


The Feathery Salt Is Real

by Aerith_The_Evenstar



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: But will eventually lead into events of the game, F/M, OC is human, Revali being his usual self, Story takes place 100 years before the main events of Breath of the Wild, There will be cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2018-12-05 12:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerith_The_Evenstar/pseuds/Aerith_The_Evenstar
Summary: A girl wakes up to find herself on a snowy mountain wearing nothing but a hospital gown. Not knowing what to do she tries to find a way to any form of civilization (or somewhere warmer) before she ends up freezing to death (though she believes the latter is more likely).However, encountering a certain Rito Champion proves to complicate matters even more and things seem to go downhill from there.





	1. Where Am I?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone. Like with A Fishy Situation, this story has a OC that's human. Though the idea is similiar to the first story, they won't tie in with each other.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where the OC founds herself stranded on a snowy mountain.

Cold…

It was so cold…

She shivered, curling up in a ball in an attempt to seek some form of warmth.

She found none.

Hazel eyes cracked open, but what she found was the last thing she expected.

A vastness of white covered the ground as far as the eye could see, along with a flurry of snowflakes falling from a darken sky. Noticing how the ground would incline into a slope, she could only guess that she was on some sort of hill or mountain.

God, it was cold!

Picking herself up off the snowy ground, it was at that point she realized she was in nothing but a thin hospital gown, which did her no favors in the cold climate. She didn’t even have any shoes to protect her feet! Her exposed skin was red due to laying in the snow (it was so cold that it seemed to burn), and she was surprised that she didn’t have frostbite.

Not knowing where to go she picked a random direction and hoped for the best (anything was better than staying where she was). If she were lucky she’d be able to find somewhere warm. As she trudged through the snow she couldn’t help but wonder why she was in a hospital gown in the first place (she hoped the back was tied up tight enough), but that was likely the least of her worries.

More importantly, how did she end up in such a place?

The last thing she remembered was being with her friends, and then—

She frowned.

…And then what?

Her mind seemed to be drawing a blank as to what happened next. Did something happened that caused her to wear a hospital gown? It was the only explanation she could think of that made any sort of sense.

Regardless of what happened, her main concern was finding someplace warm before she freezes to death.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

There were a few things she knew for certain.

1, she hated being lost.

2, she wasn’t a big fan of snow.

3, she really, really, REALLY hated the cold.

She had no clue as to how long she’d been wandering through the snow, but it certainly FELT like she’d been doing so for hours (if the sky lighting up a bit was any indication). And she was baffled by the fact that she hadn’t frozen yet.

How the hell was that even possible?!

The hospital gown was damp and frozen due to the snow, though it didn’t stay in place for long due to her lethargic movement causing the frozen thing cloth to swift.

She must’ve been on a mountain due to the difficulty she had breathing and every breath she took seemed to sting her lungs. Her feet felt slightly numb as they shifted around the snow.

It was safe to say that she thoroughly miserable.

Her body felt like it was on auto-pilot as she no longer paid attention to where she was going, and she’d been asking herself the same question for what seemed to be the 100th time:

Why did she bothered wandering off?

At this rate, she’d get hypothermia and die from that. Or she’d find a way out.

Whichever came first.

Though she was betting on the hypothermia.

Knowing her luck, that was likely to be the case.

She yelped when she suddenly slipped on something and in her panicked state she grabbed hold of a rock to stop her fall. Seconds later she realized that not only had she slipped, she almost took a nice fall down a cliff. In the distance, she could see that there was hardly any snow as it receded the farther away it got from the mountain. Not only did this meant a warmer climate, it also meant that she could get out of the snow!

Now to figure out how to get down without dying…

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

It must’ve been late into the day by the time she managed to get down from the mountain since the sun seemed to be at its peak. Thankfully nothing too bad happened to her…if you count some scrapped skin and a twisted ankle as ‘nothing too bad.’

‘Well,’ She thought. ‘It could be worse.’

At least she hadn’t gotten herself killed.

Yet.

Despite the sprained ankle, she forced herself to keep moving, preferably AWAY from the mountain she’d been stuck on not that long ago.

Good news was that the area she was in wasn’t as cold.

Bad news was that it wasn’t by much.

If anything, it was a SLIGHT improvement. But again, not by much.

She continued to limp her way through the rocky terrain, wincing whenever her ankle occasionally throbbed in pain. Eventually she got to a point where she could no longer force herself to walk any further as her body practically begged for rest, and she soon found herself huddled on the ground with her knees drawn close to her chest (all the while being careful of her right ankle). And her stomach chose the worst time to protest.

She let out a pitiful whimper as she buried her head into her knees, her shoulder length dark hair falling into her face.

She was cold, tired, and hungry.

And she only knew how to take care of one of those three problems.

It was official. This was the worst day of her life. Sure, she could be exaggerating but the lines seemed to blur between that and reality.

Maybe freezing to death on that mountain had been the better option.

It might’ve been better than hunger pains.

Who was she kidding? None of the above was remotely appealing.

“Now this is a rare sight, indeed!”

She weakly lifted her head upon hearing the voice in time to see a bird-like creature land before her. Normally something like this would startle someone, but for her it only came as a mild surprise to see this bird person…humanoid bird…? Whatever he was, she could care less when it came to this bizarre being by this point.

“I come all the way out here in search of a shrine, only I end up finding something most peculiar.” He started. “I never expected to find a human, given the vast scarcity of your kind.”

What was this bird-man going on about? Were humans really that hard to find?

“And that garb you’re wearing. I’ve never seen anything so flimsy in my entire life. It’s no wonder your race died off so easily.”

Her eye twitched as this.

Why that condescending birdbrain! He actually thought humans wore hospital gowns on a daily basis!

“Believe me, this wasn’t my first choice.” She grumbled.

“Ah, so you do speak! And here I thought you were unable to comprehend my words. Either that or you were mute.” She was really starting to dislike this guy. “Now tell me, what is someone such as yourself doing this far out?”

She wondered if she should tell him or not. Then again what did she have to lose?

“Honestly? I have no clue.” She answered. “I just woke up on that snowy mountain.”

“And yet you somehow survived the harsh climate of the Gerudo Highlands. I’m surprised you hadn’t encountered any monsters so far, especially when you’re so…ill equipped. It’s nothing short of a miracle. Or maybe it’s just dumb luck on your part.”

Did…did he just give her a compliment, only to then throw an insult her way?

What was WRONG with this guy?!

“Are you always like this?” She asked.

“Like what?” He questioned, a smirk somehow managing to form on his beak. How that was possible, she didn’t know.

“Conceited?”

He stared at her for a few moments before chuckling.

“‘Conceited’! I’ll have you know that it isn’t without reason. After all, I am the most skilled archer of all the Rito. My skill is unparalleled.”

Greaaat! Not only was he conceited, but he just so happened to have an overly massive ego to boot!

What. A. Jerk!

“Look!” She let out an exasperated sigh. “I have no clue where I am, or how I even got here. Could you at least help me out?”

The bird-man mad a show of looking as if he were giving the idea some thought (though she had a feeling he was doing it on purpose). She heard him hum thoughtfully before he answered.

“I suppose I COULD, but what would be in it for me?” He leaned his head towards her, lowering it slightly. “What could I possibly gain that would be of any benefit?”

Why wasn’t she surprised? If anything, she was annoyed. She had nothing but the clothes (hah, ‘clothes’!) on her back. What could she even offer? She mentally groaned when an idea popped into her head, one that she really didn’t want to do.

She had no other choice…

“I will…” She really had to put her pride aside for this. “…I will do anything you ask, within reason.”

This seemed to catch the bird-man’s attention, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

“'ANYTHING'?” He questioned.

“Within reason.” She reminded.

“Very well.” He stood up straight. “From now on you will do anything I request of you.”

Her eyes widened at this. It was as she feared…

“So I’m basically your slave or servant?”

“‘Slave’ and ‘servant’ are such vile words.” He crossed his arms—er, wings—behind his back. “I much prefer the term ‘attendant,’ if you will.”

What had she gotten herself into?

“And what would be your name, human?”

“Evangeline.” She answered automatically, only to mentally wince.

She should’ve given him a fake name…

“Splendid! You will refer to me as ‘Master Revali’ or ‘Sir’. Now then, Erin—”

“Evangeline!”

“—we must be off.” He continued as if he never heard her before starting to walk off. “Do try and keep up, would you?”

Evangeline struggled to her feet (her body protesting the very action), her sprained ankle making the task more difficult than it needed to be as she did her best to keep up with Revali. However, she was lagging behind so much and she highly doubted he notice her struggling.

Ugh, she could feel the stomach pain already. It didn’t help that her bare feet were sore with cuts and scrapes littering the skin.

Maybe death would’ve been a better alternative than her current predicament as far as this birdbrain was involved—

She let out a cry of pain when she landed on the rocky ground and it was at that moment she realized she’d slipped.

That was it! She couldn’t deal with this anymore! She was cold, tired, hungry, and in so much pain! Her body had been through enough abuse as it was (and as Revali had stated earlier, was ‘nothing short of a miracle’) and she was beginning to wish she’d be put out of her misery.

Screw her pride, she wanted to give up!

Evangeline was taken by surprise when she was suddenly pulled to her feet by a feathered grip (she wondered how that even worked, seeing as he didn’t have any hands), only to then be forced to sit on a rock. Glancing at Revali’s face showed that he didn’t look too pleased about her current condition and she watched as he looked her over briefly. In turn, she took in his appearance.

Naturally, Revali was bird-like in appearance (if she recalled correctly, he was called a Rito), with long wings that also served as arms (she noticed how the four large feathers at the end seemed to serve as fingers, especially when he had grabbed her a few seconds ago). The majority of his feathers were almost a bluish-black color with some white scattered in a few spots. His appearance was similar to a pheasant, but the features she found out of place were the four braids coming out of the back of his head, the strangely shaped yellow eyebrows (that seemed to give off a sense of intimidation when coupled with his piercing green eyes), and the red markings on his cheeks that made it look like he was blushing.

She found it interesting to see that he wore armor, let alone some clothes (but at this rate, not much seemed to come as a surprise), some parts of the armor having a wing motif. What caught her attention was the long blue scarf he wore around his neck that had a white pattern she couldn’t really make out at that time. She noticed the quiver of arrows resting against his right hip as well as the elaborate looking bow strung across his back, a small blue cloth or ribbon the same color as his scarf dangling at the bottom end.

“You look abysmal.” He suddenly said, his tone dull as he frowned.

“Yeah, because that’s what every girl wants to hear.” She retorted.

“Putting your quip aside, when were you planning on telling me about your ankle?”

Evangeline averted her eyes at this, not having an answer. If anything, she believed that he wouldn’t care if she’d bothered to tell him at all (he seemed to give off that impression, anyway; at this point, her opinion of him wasn’t exactly positive). She heard Revali sigh before he spoke.

“This will not do…” He said, though it sounded as if he were talking to himself. She could hear the sound of his talons against the rocky ground as he paced back and forth. “If we were to continue at we are, we wouldn’t reach Rito Village until well into the night. Unless…”

He trailed off and soon his pacing came to a halt. Evangeline lifted her gaze in time to see him turn to her.

“Seeing as you are in no condition to walk, we will have to resort to an alternative method.”

“And what would that be?” She asked.

“I’m surprise you ask, Erin!” Evangeline, she mentally yelled. “As you can see, I have wings, and with wings comes the ability to fly. You should feel honored that I am providing such assistance.”

‘I should feel honored to shove my foot up your a—’

“Well, climb on! I haven’t got all day.”

It was at that moment Evangeline realized Revali had knelt in front of her with his back facing her and she connected the dots as to what he wanted her to do. She carefully managed to maneuver herself off the rock (even going as far as to hop on her left foot) in order to get close to the Rito before climbing on his back. She made sure to wrap her arms around his neck, and she couldn’t help but notice how soft his feathers were as her arms brushed against them. Hanging on Revali’s back wasn’t exactly comfortable due to the bow on his back, but she’d have to make do.

Without warning Revali shot into the air with the help of an updraft that came out of nowhere and out of reflex she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Holy shit! Give me a warning next time!” She cried.

“Sadly, there won’t be a next time. You should feel grateful that I’m even doing this at all.” He said, his wings flapping as he flew. “Also, you might want to be mindful of your words. Such language is unbecoming of a lady.”

“Oh, fuck you!”

“I would, but I have standards. Although, if you’re offering, I’d suggest after your ankle is healed.”

Her face went entirely red at this (she could practically hear him smirking) and buried her face as a result. She had NOT expected him to take that phrase seriously, but then he had to say something like that!

‘There’s no winning with this guy.’ She thought.

Though the wind was blowing her dark hair around, she surprisingly found the sensation soothing. At least she would’ve if it weren’t so damn cold! But despite this, Evangeline was still exhausted from the day’s events.

Maybe taking a nap wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To give you an idea as to the location of where Revali found Evangeline, it's close to where the Kah Okeo Shrine is (the one that's hidden underneath the large rock slab that blocks the way).
> 
> Now, I know what you're thinking: "What is this business with humans being extinct? There aren't any humans in Zelda."
> 
> Believe it or not, there are actually humans. One good example is from Twilight Princess (as well as Wind Waker), with the people living in Ordon Village having round ears (Link's the only one with pointed ears).
> 
> Seeing as there aren't any characters or NPCs in Breath of the Wild that have round ears (not even the Gerudos), I was left under the impression that pointed ears of the Hylians would be a dominant trait while round ears would be a recessive (which would explain Gerudos having pointed ears over the years leading up to Breath of the Wild).
> 
> So for the sake of my story, I'm having it that the human race either went extinct and/or got lost after years of breeding with either Hylians or Gerudos. I think it's safer to go with the first option.


	2. New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evangeline wakes up and finds herself in a new environment.

Loud music playing, the room crowded with people trying to be heard over the blaring boom of the bass as it pierced the air, causing her body to tremble. Though the people around her spoke loudly, she couldn’t decipher their words, and yet she somehow understood the context.

Vision hazy, sound distorted, everything blurred together until she found herself seated in the back of a car, but she wasn’t alone. Her mind seemed to know the group of girls riding with her even with their faces being blurred, all of them giggling and chatting excitedly to each other.

She turned to the girl seated beside her, and she somehow knew she was smiling at her as a bright light gradually illuminated the unknown girl’s face.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Evangeline’s eyes shot open as she quickly sat up, a gasp escaping her lips. A hand flew up to grip her chest in an attempt to calm her pounding heart. Once she managed to calm herself down, hazel orbs began to take in her surroundings.

The structure she was in was wooden, almost resembling a hut of sorts with a colorful rug covering most of the floor. The large windows (for lack of better words) were covered by wooden shutters built into the frame, the slits allowing some light to filter into the room to prevent the room from being too dark (it was enough to allow a person to sleep during the day). What she assumed to be the door leading out of the hut was covered by a curtain that served as a...well, door. In the center of the floor was a cooking pot that sat over an unlit firepit, having a sort of stone circle and caging around it to prevent anything from catching on fire.

After observing all this, Evangeline realized she had been laying in a hammock that was a good distance above the floor (definitely something that wouldn't be possible to climb into due to the shear height). Seeing the blanket pooling in her lap made her aware of her body shivering and she didn’t hesitate to pull it over herself as she curled up underneath it for warmth.

Even with a blanket she was still cold!

Sunlight flooded into the hut as the curtain was suddenly pulled to the side, followed by someone entering. The bright light hurt her eyes, causing her to block her eyes with an arm as she tried to make out who entered, though she could barely make out the silhouette of their figure.

Who…?

“Well now. I see someone finally decided to awaken from their slumber.”

Evangeline mentally groaned upon recognizing the voice.

It hadn’t been a dream!

She was actually stuck with the birdbrain.

“How long was I asleep?” She asked, deciding to get the question out of the way.

“It wasn’t long, if that’s what you are thinking. Only through the night and half of today.” Revali answered, allowing the curtain to fall over the doorway and walking further into the hut. “I must say, you are awfully clingy when you sleep.”

Her face heated up at this.

“I-I’m not clingy!”

“Oh really?” Oh, god no! She could HEAR it! “Sounds like you’re in denial. You were like a little fledgling clinging to its mother.”

Not knowing how to respond she pulled the blanket over her head. That didn’t stop the Rito from chuckling.

“And yet your actions have done nothing to refute my claim.”

She huffed.

“This your house?” She decided to change the subject.

“Of course.” She could hear him rummaging around.

“And I basically work for you?”

“That was the agreement.”

“When am I supposed to start?”

The rummaging stopped which left her confused. Removing the blanket from over her head, she found Revali standing below the hammock she was in looking up at her with an intense gaze that was...as much as she hated to admit it, she found it somewhat intimidating.

“You won’t be doing much of anything until your ankle is healed.” He told her. “You wouldn’t be doing yourself any favors otherwise.”

Huh?

Maybe Revali wasn’t so self-centered.

Maybe he was capable of being a decent person…er, bird.

“But fear not! For you are guaranteed a full recovery under my care!”

…Or not.

“I am sure you are famished by this point. Fortunately enough, I have prepared you a meal ahead of time.” At the mention of food her stomach started to growl and she became aware of just HOW hungry she was. “However, you will have to come down.”

Evangeline’s gaze drifted to the wooden floor below, eyeing the distance warily. She was in a hammock, which was high above the floor, and he expected her to get down?

“You must be joking.” She told him. “You are aware of how high up I am, right?”

“It hasn’t escaped my notice.”

“So how do you expect me to get down? Jump?”

“That’s exactly what I am expecting.”

She gave him a disbelieving look. He was actually serious.

“No. I already twisted my ankle, and I’m not planning on breaking any bones.”

Revali furrowed his brows at this.

“Are all humans like this?” He questioned.

“Only the rational ones!”

The Rito brought a wing up to his face before letting out a frustrated sigh.

“This is getting out of wing…” He grumbled before lowering his wing to look at her. “Do you truly believe I would let you come to further harm?”

Evangeline opened her mouth to answer, but paused as her mind registered Revali’s question. Did she think he’d let her get hurt? She didn’t know how to answer that question now that she thought about it. True he was a jerk, but he hadn’t done anything that would make her question his integrity.

From what she was aware of given the short amount of time she knew him.

And he was expecting an answer.

“No.”

He seemed to relax somewhat upon hearing her answer.

“Then you will jump. I expect you to trust me when I need you to.”

She was surprised by the sincerity of his words. There was no boasting, no snide comments or arrogant words. Just…honesty.

It was…astounding how differently he was acting compared to how he had been from before.

She took a deep breath as her eyes shifted from Revali to the floor, and then back again. He expected her to jump and trust him.

Why was this so hard?

‘Put aside your pride. Give him your trust.’ She told herself.

With that she forced herself to slip out of the hammock and she squeezed her eyes shut as she fell towards the floor…

…Only to be caught by a pair of wings.

Hazel eyes blinked open to find that she had, indeed, been caught by Revali. This display caused her to have mixed feelings concerning him and she wasn’t sure what to think.

He was...puzzling.

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” He asked, though his words lacked the usual rudeness. He could’ve given her sarcasm, but he chose not to.

Revali didn’t wait for her to answer as he helped her over to a spot close to the unlit firepit and cooking pot, as well as carefully guiding her to sit on the floor. Soon enough she was handed a fork and a plate with what appeared to be a lightly breaded fish that had a buttery sauce on top of it. The scent that met her nostrils was almost heavenly and taking a bite out of it proved that it was as good as it smelled.

“This is good.” She complimented. “What is it?”

“It is salmon meunière. And it is only good because I made it.”

Evangeline couldn’t help the small laugh that left her mouth at this. Of course he’d be boastful of any ability he possessed.

She’d let him have that one. He earned it.

While she was distracted with eating she didn’t noticed what Revali was working on, and it wasn’t until she finished her food and turned around that she found him setting up a hammock, though it was made to hang a lot lower to the ground compared to the one she’d woken up in.

“Why are you setting up a hammock?” She asked.

“I only do so because you need somewhere to sleep.” He replied before turning to her. “And I would like to have my hammock back as well.”

Her face heated up at this. So this whole time she had been sleeping in HIS hammock? Of course he’d want his hammock back (who wouldn’t?), that was understandable, but did he have to make it sound so negative?

Well, at least she had somewhere to sleep.

Evangeline let out a yelp when something was tossed at her head and she quickly pulled it down and held it out in front of her to find out that it was a one-piece white dress with long sleeves, and it looked it was long enough to reach above her ankles; there was light blue embroidery along the collar, hem, and the ends of both sleeves that she found to be an interesting design. Thankfully it looked warm.

“As much as I enjoy the view, I suggest you cover up.” Revali commented.

At first she was confused by what he meant, but then her faced heated up when she caught on to what he was referring to.

How had she been able to forget about the draftiness of her backside?


	3. Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Evangeline realizes that she is VERY far from home.

Days passed since Evangeline first woke up in Revali’s home, though she had lost track of how many days it was. Most of her day was spent laying in the hammock set up for her or seated on the floor, but either way her right ankle (which was wrapped up) would be elevated in some way. There wasn’t much for her to do whenever Revali was away (where he went was a mystery) aside from taking naps, but after awhile anyone would get tired doing the same thing over and over again.

In other words, she was BORED.

Not once had she been able to leave the hut, let alone seen what it looked like outside except for the few glimpses she managed to catch when peeking through the wooden shutters. With how bored she was, Evangeline allowed her thoughts to wander as she imagined the world outside the hut.

It wasn’t long before her thoughts drifted to home, along with the pang of homesickness. She couldn’t help but think of the things she missed.

She missed her parents and friends.

She missed her bed and room.

She missed heating and air conditioning.

She missed television and the internet.

But most of all she missed bacon.

That’s right!

She missed bacon!

Evangeline had nothing against Revali’s cooking (his cooking was good enough to be served in a restaurant), but there were times when she would crave the greasy fried strips of pig flesh.

Did this place even have bacon, let alone the knowledge of how to make it?

She groaned as she leaned her head back, followed by lowering herself until she was lying on the carpeted floor.

‘My priorities are so mixed up.’ She thought.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about being bored when the curtain over the doorway was pulled aside, and she couldn’t help the relief she felt upon seeing Revali return. Upon seeing her lying on the floor he raised a brow.

“What are you doing?” He asked, walking around until he was in her line of sight without lifting her head.

“Lying on the floor.” She answered.

“Why?”

“Because I’m bored. There isn’t much for me to do whenever you leave.”

“Ah, so it would appear you missed me during my long absence.” The Rito smirked. “It’s only understandable when you’re constantly in the presence of greatness.”

Evangeline snorted at this.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” She then pulled herself up from the floor so that she could sit upright. “Where were you, anyways?”

“If you must know, I happen to have duties to attend to given my role as Champion of the Rito. That, and I went to retrieve a few items on my way back.”

She was about to ask what he brought back when the Rito pulled out two bottles and a bundle of clothing. One of the bottles had some sort of red liquid that she couldn’t identify, but it was the second bottle that got her attention due to the light pink orb of light that floated around inside of it; it was only when she saw the delicate wings that her hazel eyes widened in surprise.

“Is that…? Is that an ACTUAL fairy?” She exclaimed, unable to believe her eyes.

“What else could it be? Have you been living under a rock this whole time?”

“Where I’m from, fairies only exist in fairytales. But to actually see one with my own eyes…it’s practically every little girl’s dream to see a fairy.” Evangeline gently lifted the bottle containing the pink fairy so that it was at eye level. The fairy seemed to be nothing more than a ball of light with wings, but on closer inspection she could just make out the small form of a person. She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. “You’re a very pretty fairy. Did you know that?”

She watched the fairy bob around inside the bottle, almost as if in response to her words. She was so fascinated by the tiny fairy that she forgot about the Rito silently observing her; it wasn’t until she glanced up that she realized Revali was watching her with wings crossed in front of his chest.

“What?” She asked.

“You are a strange one.” He replied. “It’s apparent you’ve never encountered a fairy if you’re fawning over it.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Now, about that ankle of yours…”

Evangeline watched as Revali knelt down so he could unwrap the bandage from around her right ankle, but what surprised her was the amount of tenderness he displayed as he went about examining the sprain. A few times she had to bite her lip, not because of pain, but due to the laughter she was trying to hold back from the feather-light touch (pun definitely intended for this situation). After a few moments of inspection, the Rito let out a hum of approval.

“Your ankle’s recovery is coming along nicely. You should be able to walk on it after a few days.”

She groaned at this.

“I still have to wait?”

“You would…if you were to allow it to heal naturally.” He then picked up the bottle containing the mysterious red liquid. “However, I just so happen to have something that can speed up the process.”

“What…is that?” She asked.

“A Hearty Elixir. It’ll help with your recovery, but that’s assuming you choose to drink it.”

Evangeline eyed the elixir warily, unsure if she wanted to drink it or not. She was aware that Revali wouldn’t give her anything if it were to harm her (he hadn’t done so…yet), so if he said it’d help her, she’d just have to trust him. She set the bottled fairy on the floor beside her before silently holding a hand out towards the Rito. Thankfully he knew what she wanted since he handed her the elixir. Once more, she regarded the bottle, but she pulled the cork out.

‘It’s gonna taste horrible, isn’t it?’ She thought.

She brought the bottle to her lips and took a sip…

…only to gag as soon as she tasted the concoction.

She knew the elixir was going to taste horrible, but this?

THIS was horribly indescribable!

“Oh my god!” She choked out. She wanted to puke! “What is this MADE of?!”

“Trust me when I say this, you don’t want to know.” Was all Revali told her.

“And I have to DRINK this?”

“Every last drop.” Why did she get the feeling that he was enjoying this?

‘Knowing him, he probably is.’ She thought dully. ‘Birdbrained sadist.’

She made a face at the elixir, not wanting to drink it now that she knew it tasted so foul. True, she wanted her ankle to be healed sooner, but now she was second guessing this quick fix method.

Was it still too late to change her mind?

“I hope I don’t puke…”

“If you do, you’ll be the one cleaning it up.” Revali commented. “Now, if you’re done stalling, I’d like you to drink that elixir. Unless…you’re not up to it?”

Oh, no!

She knew what he was doing.

And the sad part was that it was working.

Evangeline brought the bottle to her mouth and forced herself to drink the rest of the Hearty Elixir. Every second seemed to drag on for longer than usual with every sip she took until she was left with an empty bottle. Taking a few calming breaths, she threw a glare at the smug Rito.

“There! I drank it! Are you happy—”

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from her right ankle, causing her to cry out in response. The pain itself was a lot worse than when she first sprained it, and it was enough to cause her eyes to tear up. She soon found herself curled up on the floor clutching her sides in an attempt to distract herself from the pain (though it did little to help), squeezing her eyes shut to hold back her tears as she whimpered pitifully.

It hurt!

Why did it hurt so much?!

Evangeline froze when she felt something land on her shoulder and (much to her confusion) remained there; surprisingly, the mass helped to distract her from the pain (if only a little) in her ankle. A comforting warmth seemed to engulf her body until soon enough the pain eventually faded to nothing and she soon loosened her grip on her sides. She brought her hands up to her face to wipe away any stray tears that had managed to escape and it was during this time that the object on her shoulder removed itself.

“This is unheard of.”

Hearing Revali’s voice caused Evangeline to pull her hands away from her face before sitting up. Her gaze fell on the Rito, who had his wings crossed in front of his chest.

“What is?” She asked.

“Ordinarily, a Hearty Elixir only causes someone to experience a dull ache from their injuries, though this is mainly due to the effect of the elixir itself speeding up the healing process of said injuries.” He explained. “However, it would seem the effects were…too effective this time.”

She opened her mouth to speak, only to lose it as Revali started pacing around, a thoughtful expression on his face as he held a wing up to his chin (or whatever to equivalent was, considering he was a bird…er, Rito). It was strange seeing him in such a state that it left her dumbfounded.

“Is it possible that the potency of a simple Hearty Elixir is too much for a human?” She could hear him mutter to himself.

At least that’s what she believed.

The Rito’s pacing came to a halt and it seemed as if he’d come to some sort of conclusion as he turned his gaze on her.

“Where was it you said you were from?” He inquired.

Evangeline was about to respond, but then his question registered in her mind and she realized the meaning behind it.

Or specifically how he was trying to trick her into providing an answer she never gave him.

‘Nice try, clever bird.’ She mused.

“I never said.” She told him.

Revali regarded her for a moment before retrieving what looked to be a large scroll from a nearby table. He then sat across from her on the floor with enough space for him to spread open the scroll, revealing a detailed elevation map that had her eyes roaming all over it as she took in everything. She was so absorbed with looking over the map that she hadn’t noticed the Rito getting impatient until he cleared his throat in order to get her attention. Her face turned red in embarrassment when she realized this.

“…Sorry.” She muttered sheepishly.

“Now that I have your attention, I want you to identify anything familiar on this map.”

Evangeline looked down at the map and it was as she scanned over the images that she realized something.

She couldn’t read any of the words labeled over the map.

Correction, she couldn’t DECIPHER the symbols she presumed were words.

She should tell Revali?

‘Not yet.’ She told herself. ‘I need to confirm something first.’

“Where is it you found me?” She asked.

“Here.” He replied, the tip of one of his feathered fingers (for lack of better words) pointed to a spot on the map.

Noting the spot he pointed to she searched around that section of the map until she found what she was looking for. South of the spot was elevated land, or specifically what appeared to be mountains.

“Is this…Gerda Highlands?”

“GERUDO Highlands!” She heard the Rito sigh, seeming to get irritated at her. “And yes, it is.”

The blood drained from her face and the longer she continued to look over the map, the stronger the dread seemed to grow.

No…

Aside from the Gerudo Highlands and the spot Revali found her, nothing was familiar.

Nothing…was HOME!

‘What was your first guess?’ She snapped at herself sarcastically. ‘I hope it wasn’t the SNOW!’

No…!

“…What land is this map of?” She asked.

Revali was silent, likely having noticed her change of behavior.

“It’s Hyrule.” He responded after awhile. “Didn’t you read the heading of the map? It’s not hard to miss.”

“I didn’t miss it. I just couldn’t read it.”

“You mean to tell me that you’re illiterate?”

“I’m not illiterate!” She exclaimed, suddenly standing up. Apparently, she had surprised the Rito with her outburst if his appearance was anything to go by. But she didn’t really care. “I’m not some bumpkin who’s lived under a rock all their life! I’m perfectly capable of reading, I just can’t understand these foreign symbols! It’s not…”

None of it was familiar!

Nothing!

Evangeline found herself rushing out of the hut, pushing past the curtain blocking the doorway and her eyes becoming overwhelmed by sunlight. Eventually her eyes managed to adjust, only for them to widened as she was frozen in place.


	4. Culture Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evangeline realizes her situation.

Evangeline liked to believe that it took a lot to faze her by this point.

She had woken up in the Gerudo Highlands and somehow miraculously survived trekking through the snow without getting frostbite and dying, all while freezing her ass off (pun not intended) in nothing but a paper-thin hospital gown.

She had managed to climb down a cliff and sprain her right ankle, only to limp as far as she could before hunger and exhaustion forced her to stop.

She had encountered Revali of the Rito, who she presumed was a race of humanoid bird people (only because he’d been the only person she’d encountered so far).

But in the end, it turned out she had been fooling herself.

Especially when she was faced with the reality of her surroundings, seeming to hit her like a ton of bricks.

Around her were wooden huts that resembled large bird cages (looking as if they were hanging from large sturdy chains), along with wooden walkways and stairs surrounding a large stone spire that reached for the heavens. It was as her hazel gaze wandered upwards that she spotted a mechanical bird—

WHAT?!

“JESUS TITTY FUCKING CHRIST!!!” She exclaimed, eyes wide in horror.

Flying around in the sky above was a GIANT mechanical bird, though its design was more crude than futuristic (but was still passible in this apparent medieval setting). The wings of the mechanical bird didn’t flap or move and instead stayed stationary like an airplane.

“What the fu—”

Evangeline was cut off when a hand—correction, wing—clamped over her mouth, effectively silencing her. She tried to pry the wing off her mouth, but her attempts proved futile.

“I recall telling you to be mindful of your words.” Revali’s voice suddenly spoke into her ear, and she was suddenly aware of how close he was to her (the sound of his low voice didn’t help things, either). “In case you haven’t noticed, there are children around.”

She froze when this was brought to her attention, and upon looking around she could see Rito of all shapes and sizes (children and adults alike) having stopped in place to stare. Her face heated up as embarrassment set in from the unwanted attention.

She unintentionally made a scene.

“Have you calm down?”

She was about to respond when she remembered her mouth was covered, so she settled with nodding her head.

“Good.” She mentally groaned upon hearing the smirk in his voice. “Just follow my lead.”

Wait, what?!

Evangeline was taken by surprise when Revali suddenly spun her around and before she knew it, she found herself wrapped up in a pair of wings. If she thought she was blushing before, her face would be beat red at this point.

…Was he HUGGING her?!

“W-what are you doing?” She hissed, though in reality it came out as a quiet squeak.

“Follow. My. Lead. You just woke up from a nightmare that left you shaken.”

Uh, okay…?

Unsure of what to do, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Revali’s stomach in order to give off the impression that she was clinging to him for stability (whether or not this was actually the case was debatable). It was at that time that she became aware of the Rito’s height; she knew he was tall, but it wasn't until she stood in front of him that she realized she was only a head shorter than him (from what she could tell).

Thankfully she didn’t have to fake being shaken since her mind was having difficulty coming to terms with being in a different world.

Talk about culture shock, assuming it could apply to her situation.

“It’s alright. It was just a dream. Dreams can’t harm you.” He suddenly said, his voice taking a surprisingly soothing tone.

Evangeline knew Revali was only telling her this to sell the image of him comforting her, but something about his words somehow made an impact on her and caused her throat to tighten slightly.

She wished this was all a dream, she really did!

But it wasn’t, and every second that passed seemed to cement the fact that everything was too real for her mind to rationalize.

She was never going to see her home again, was she?

Did her family even know? Did her friends?

Was she considered missing by the police?

Did anyone care that she was missing?

Was she stuck in this world for the rest of her life?

She was confused when the Rito holding her became tense, and it wasn’t until she noticed the dampness trailing down her cheeks that she realized why. She hadn’t realized she was crying, and it was apparent he hadn’t expected her to do so. Her arms tightened around him slightly and she found that she was no longer pretending.

“Master Revali, what’s going on here?”

Evangeline turned her head towards the direction the voice came from and spotted an elderly looking Rito that resembled an owl (she wasn’t good at recognizing species, but he resembled the kind of owl Hedwig was from Harry Potter), leaning on the wooden staff he carried for support.

“Elder Chie.” Revali greeted. “She just woke up from a nightmare. I’ve taken care of it.”

The Elder turned yellow eyes to her, and despite being old she found him somewhat intimidating due to his height, towering over the other Rito in the immediate area.

“So, this is the Human.” The Elder said. “It’s fascinating how much she resembles a Hylian, though her ears give her away.”

At this she tentatively touched her ears in confusion. Was there something wrong with her ears? Were Hylian ears different or did they not have any?

Was she that much of an anomaly?

She might as well be considered an alien, given the circumstance.

These thoughts only further solidified the harsh truth and she found herself burying her face into Revali’s chest, and she got a small bit of satisfaction when the Rito went still again. Though it was short-lived since he managed to compose himself enough to speak.

“P-perhaps she still needs a little more time to collect her thoughts.” Did he just stutter? “I’ll just take her back inside for now.”

“That might be for the best.” The Elder nodded. “Hopefully, she’ll be well enough for a tour around the village after a moment or two.”

“Rest assured, she will be fine!”

It was that moment that Revali started to awkwardly pat her shoulder. Evangeline was confused as to why he was doing that, especially when he started to do it more persistently.

“You can let go now.” He suddenly said in a hushed tone (likely so that the others wouldn’t hear).

Her faced heated up as she jerked away, though she couldn’t get far due to the Rito’s arms keeping her in place. A frown formed on his beak as he looked down at her, but it didn’t last long when he suddenly shifted around, and before she knew it a wing was draped around her shoulders; soon enough he started to guide her back to his home (the wooden hut being like all the others she had seen so far).

“Come along, Erin.”

EVANGELINE…

Her hands tightened into fists.

Why couldn’t he get her name right?

Did he forget what it was, or was he deliberately not using it?

As soon as the curtain fell over the doorway Evangeline ducked out of the wing draped over her shoulders before moving away from Revali, the space between them gradually growing with every step she took.

“I must admit, I’m surprised by your performance.” Revali commented. “I didn’t think you’d be quite the actress, although I think you might’ve gone a LITTLE overboard with the tears.”

Once again tears welled up in her eyes, and trying to hold them back she gripped her arms as a means to keep herself grounded. Did it help? Not really, but it was an attempt.

“…I wasn’t acting.” She told him.

He was silent as those words hung in the air, and she took this time to sit on the floor close to her hammock, legs drawn close to her chest and arms wrapped around them. She didn’t care what he thought of her at that moment, but it really didn’t matter to her by this point.

She was stuck in a world completely different from her own. The land was different, their alphabet was incomprehensible, and it was confirmed there were more races besides the Rito she found herself surrounded by.

But was she truly stuck here permanently?

This train of thought caught her attention.

True, she was stuck in this world, but that didn’t mean there WASN'T a way back home!

…Right?

Maybe there was a way to get back, but that raised another question as a result:

HOW was she supposed to get home?

Her brows furrowed at this.

If that mechanical bird flying above the village was anything to go by, maybe this world has some form of technology (even if it was advanced for such a medieval setting). Magic was also a high possibility if the fairy she’d seen earlier was common knowledge

‘Okay, so that’s two methods that can help me get home.’ She thought. ‘Now my only concern is figuring out how to follow any of those leads. Where do I even start—’

“Here.”

Evangeline whipped her head around to find Revali towering over her from behind, a steaming mug being offered to her. She stared at the mug, confused as to why he even had it in the first place. Was it…meant for her?

Apparently, she had taken too long to respond since the Rito let out an irritated huff.

“Well? Are you going to take it or not?” He asked, referring to the mug he held.

Realizing her mistake, she scrambled to her feet before taking the mug from Revali, though she was quick to switch her grip to holding the handle as the palm of her hands felt the temperature of the cup.

“S-sorry.” She muttered, feeling embarrassed.

She glanced down at the contents of the steaming mug, noting the pleasant aroma that wafted up to her nostrils. The hot liquid was clear, the tint being that of a reddish brown (though a little more red than brown); it had an herbal scent, yet it had a sweetness to it at the same time that somehow didn’t conflict with each other. Taking a small sip, she found that it tasted how it smelled, and warmth seemed to spread throughout her body.

“Is this…tea?” She asked.

“No, it happens to be another elixir.” Was his retort.

Whether it was his words or how he said them made little difference as she found herself giggling in response. Though it might not have been his intent, she started feeling a little better.

“Sarcasm noted.” She couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face. “Thanks for the tea.”

Evangeline’s eyes widened as she witnessed something that left her at a loss for words: the feathers around Revali’s neck seemed to puff up, and…was there a little more red on his face than usual?

“I-I didn’t do it because of you! I only did it because I happened to make tea for myself! It would be considered rude if I didn’t offer you anything to drink.”

‘Oh. My. God.’

Revali, the high and mighty Champion of the Rito, was actually stuttering! And not only that, she managed to literally ruffle his feathers!

So he wasn’t as smooth as he made himself out to be.

“…Anyways, how’s your ankle?”

She froze as his words registered in her mind, and it was that moment she realized she’d been walking around on her now healed ankle without being aware of it.

Holy shit!

Her ankle was fully healed!

Suddenly her thoughts came to a halt as she noticed something.

“What happened to the fairy?” She asked, her head turning left and right as she searched for the missing fairy.

“It left.” Was the response she got. “Fairies tend to do that whenever they’ve served their purpose. Where it went is a mystery, though there are those that speculate that they return to the Great Fairy Fountain they were captured from.”

This caught Evangeline’s attention.

Magic!

She finally had a lead that she could follow!

“You mean there are different kinds of fairies? Are Great Fairies stronger than normal fairies or something?”

“You wouldn’t be wrong about Great Fairies.” Revali’s eyes narrowed at her, all while crossing his wings in front of his chest. “Why the sudden interest?”

‘Uh oh…’

Was her interest in Great Fairies that suspicious? Sure, she wanted to see a Great Fairy (if only to follow the magic lead that could get her home) but the only way to do so was if the Rito didn’t know her intentions.

‘Quick! Play at being embarrassed!’

“W-well, I…” She averted her gaze, and it wasn’t hard to fake a blush. “…This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I’ve always been fascinated with fairies since I was little. So, yeah…”

She could feel his gaze on her, and she nervously took a few sips of her tea. It took all her willpower not to fidget in place.

‘Please buy my excuse!’ She thought. ‘I don’t know how long I can take his gaze.’

“…You’re weird.” Revali soon said.

Her head snapped in his direction.

“Weird!” She exclaimed. “I’m not weird!”

“Compared to everyone else, you are.”

Her mouth opened to respond, only to close it when she realized he had a point.

“Well, when you put it like that…” She trailed off. A few seconds later she perked up. “Anyways, can we go outside? I want to see the village!”

“Sure, but you should finish getting dressed first.”

This left her confused.

“I thought I was dressed.”

“To some degree you are. However, your attire is lacking.”

Evangeline watched Revali’s green gaze fall on something on the rug, and following his gaze she spotted the bundle of clothing that sat folded up on the floor. Walking over to it, she gathered the bundle in her arms before turning to face him.

“You mean this?” She asked, holding up the bundle.

“Of course.” He answered.

Kneeling down, she started unfolding the bundle until she found a large green scarf thing, a pair of leather shoes, and a strange looking blue rope belt with circular gold objects threaded through it (she assumed it was a belt since it looked like the size could be adjusted by pulling on both ends of the rope). These things had been wrapped inside a turquoise sleeveless dress (which had been the bundle itself), having yellow embroidery at the hem of the skirt.

“What is all this?”

“An outer dress to wear over the one you have one, a pair of shoes, a sash, and belt.”

Okay, so she was supposed to put all this on. The outer dress and shoes were easy to put on, but she was at a loss when it came to the sash and belt, specifically how the sash was supposed to be worn.

“Uh, Revali?” She called, catching the Rito’s attention. “I have no clue as to how the sash is supposed to be done. Help?”

Revali huffed at this before approaching her and soon enough he was snatching the sash out of her hands.

“Raise your arms.” He told her.

She quickly raised her arms just as Revali went about wrapping the sash around her waist (somewhat tightly). During this time, she felt a sense of awkwardness, especially when he had to reach around her for the end of the sash. Then her face turned red when he had to tuck the rest of the sash into the wrapped portion, tugging down on it until the long end was left hanging down in front of her in a way that reminded her of an apron. Thankfully, the Rito stepped away from her to observe his handiwork, and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“There! I hope you were paying attention, because I won’t be doing this again.”

“…Yeah, I was paying attention!”

‘How could I not?’ She thought sarcastically.

Picking up the blue rope belt, Evangeline looped it over her head, leveling it around her waist before tightening it so that it rested over the middle of the sash. She looked down at the outfit she now wore, finding the style foreign, but it was nice and simple.

“How do I look?” She asked.

She glanced at Revali, who was quiet as he looked her over. The seconds seemed to tick by slower than usual and she found her hands interesting as she started fiddling with her fingers.

“You look…” She lifted her gaze upon hearing the Rito’s voice. “…like a Hylian.”

That was good, right? That means she wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb unless someone decided they wanted to get a good look at hear ears. At least that’s what she presumed.

“Okay, I’m dressed!” She clapped her hands. “Can we go now?”

“Yes, we can go.” Revali sighed before walking passed her towards the door. “I swear, you act like a fledgling.”

“Hey! I’m NOT a child!”

The Rito merely chuckled as she chased after him. After all, she had a village to explore.


	5. Rito Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evangeline gets a tour of Rito Village.

Evangeline knew she had only seen a small portion of the village when she had rushed out of Revali’s home, but as the Rito showed her around she saw that there was more to the village than she first thought.

She’d been right about the Rito homes resembling bird cages (something she found fascinating, to say the least) since she saw them everywhere; like Revali’s hut, they all had large wooden shades and curtains covering the windows and doors respectfully, though they were left open/uncovered and allowed a view inside the homes themselves (she could see the hammocks hanging above the center of the inside, unlike how Revali had set them in his place). Something she noticed was how the village was built around a large stone spire, wrapping around it as the wooden walkways and stairs gradually ascended up in a spiral. In a way, the architecture almost reminded her of some sort of Native American style, which was the only aspect she found familiar in this world…this land of Hyrule.

During the tour, she noticed the different Ritos they passed, and what she found interesting was how the feathers of the females were more colorful in comparison to the males (similar to peacocks, but with the genders reversed). But the further she observed, the more she became aware of Revali’s height compared to the adult Ritos, being shorter than the others. This left her to wonder whether or not this was why he was the way he was.

‘Imagine that. Revali having a Napoleon complex!’ She giggled at the thought itself, finding it humorous.

Revali must’ve heard her laughter since he abruptly stopped (she almost ran into him as a result) and whipped around to level her with his green gaze.

“What is it you find oh so amusing to laugh at?” He demanded.

Evangeline froze at having been caught and slightly panicking she tried to think of a believable excuse.

“I was…laughing at the wind!” She suddenly thought up, only to mentally cringe at her pathetic excuse.

‘Really?!’

The Rito raised an eyebrow at this, clearly skeptical with her answer.

“The wind?”

“Y-yeah! My hair is flying around so much and everything that I find it funny.”

Revali crossed his wings and opened his beak to speak, only to be interrupted by a group of small Rito children that suddenly swarmed him excitedly. She was surprised by how he went from being arrogant and self-important to being willing to entertain a bunch of children; it was almost jarring, in a way.

“Revali, tell us a story!” One of the children said.

The children seemed to be in agreement as they started begging for a story, and eventually the older Rito conceded.

“Very well.” He said, and (much to her surprise again) a warm smile formed on his beak. “Have I told you all the story of how I faced a Lynel?”

Simultaneously, the Rito children’s eyes went wide at this before shaking their heads.

“So there I was, braving the harsh climate of the Hebra Mountains, when I came across a Lynel, armed to the teeth in weapons and a disposition to go with it!”

Evangeline stood off to the side away from the children gathered around Revali. She had a feeling he was embellishing some details of his story for the children’s sake, but at least they were invested. With the older Rito’s voice in the background, she took this time to take in her surroundings.

True, she had seen the Rito homes as she followed Revali around the village, but she was only now noticing the small details that she had apparently overlooked. Like the triangular looking lanterns posted along the wooden railings (some of them hanging from the middle of the wing-like archways and others being placed inside and outside the huts; now that she thought of it, even Revali’s home had some of them inside as well), the feathers hanging around the insides of the huts, and the small windmills (or would they be considered pinwheels?) that were situated around the place (with some of them on top of the roofs) as the wind blew through the area. Noting the somewhat chilly wind itself, she couldn’t help but imagine what it’d be like to have a bunch of windchimes in the village. With how windy this place was, it would probably sound soothing, if not pretty.

Though, it was likely this world didn’t know what windchime were, anyways…

‘I wouldn’t be surprised.’ She thought.

“Run along, children.” She suddenly heard Revali say. “It’s getting late and you wouldn’t want to keep your parents waiting.”

It was as the children ran off that she realized Revali had finished his story and it wasn’t long before he was approaching her with an air of confidence.

“What did you think of my story?” He asked. “Were you impressed?”

She realized he was fishing for compliments, but in all honesty, she wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or not without having any context. And why try to impress her in the first place?

“I guess it was neat.” She replied, thinking that answer was a safe bet.

However, the frown Revali gave her seemed to say otherwise.

“You ‘guess’?” He shook his head, almost in disappointment. “It seems you are unable to recognize greatness. But I’ll let it slide, given your…circumstances.”

‘It’s more like I’m under the impression you took a lot of artistic liberties with your story, you drama queen.’

Oh, imagine how much trouble she’d be in if she said that out loud!

“Now then, let’s be on our way! I’m sure you could use a drink.”

Wait, WHAT?!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

When Revali mentioned ‘drinks’ (though it was in the singular sense instead of plural), Evangeline had the sneaking suspicion he was referring to drinks of the alcoholic variety. It must’ve been her lucky day since her suspicion was confirmed as soon as a large wooden mug was handed to her; she didn’t know what it was, but with how rowdy some of the Ritos were within the wooden structure that served as a tavern, she could assume it was beer or something. Before she could voice her thoughts, she was already being led outside by Revali, who happened to have a mug of his own.

“Where are we going?” She asked as soon as they were outside.

“Somewhere a lot more quieter and less crowded.” He replied. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be surrounded by too many people so soon.”

She had to pause a moment to let those words register in her mind, but eventually she spoke.

“That’s…surprisingly considerate of you.” She found herself saying.

Whether or not the Rito heard her words wasn’t apparent due to his lack of response, so she chose to leave it at that. Eventually they arrived at what appeared to be a large landing, some portions of it being fenced (there were four parts that extended out a bit), and a white symbol painted in the middle that almost reminded her of the Rebel symbol from Star Wars (she had to hold back her laughter at this), though there were some differences that stood out like the wings; you could argue it looked like a bird, especially if you squinted. In the distance, she could hear the faint voices drifting from the tavern, and she was thankful of Revali thinking ahead in this instance. Otherwise, it was relatively quiet and peaceful with the lanterns placed around the landing provided a soft light.

‘Though the night air leaves a lot to be desired.’ She mused, leaning forward with her elbows on the wooden railing. ‘At least the outfit I’m wearing keeps me somewhat warm at night.’

“Well? Aren’t you going to have any?” Revali suddenly asked.

Evangeline glanced over at the Rito, and for some strange reason she suddenly wondered how he was able to even drink anything when he didn’t have any lips. Did he just stick his beak into the mug or something? Likely not, his was too big for that and would likely get stuck.

That made for an interesting mental image!

Not to mention how dwarfed the mug was by the wing he was using to carry it!

Oh, wait! Revali was still waiting for an answer.

Oops…

“I’ll get around to it eventually.” She answered, her hazel gaze falling to the liquid contained in the mug she held. “This might seem like a weird question, but what exactly is the legal drinking age? It wouldn’t happen to be 21 or something, would it?”

“You wouldn’t be wrong. I assume it’s the same where you’re from, if your words are any indication.”

“It is.”

“So why the sudden concern, then? It’s not like you’re underaged, is it?”

She froze at this, her hands gradually becoming clammy in her nervousness.

…Shit!

Revali picked up on her silence—that, and her reaction to his question—since his next words reflected that.

“…Well, I’ll be plucked! You are!” The Rito let out a chuckle. “Let me guess: 17? 18?”

Now it was her turn to laugh, and it was enough to cause her sides to hurt.

“Flattering, but no.” She managed to calm down before turning to face him. “Try 20 and a half!”

Revali’s head shot in her direction at such a neck breaking speed that she was surprised he wasn’t complaining about whiplash (though it was somewhat funny to see the braids behind his head whip around from the sudden movement), and soon enough he was looking her over. Evangeline shifted uncomfortably in place under his gaze, and she had to stop herself from telling him to take a picture (for the reason that it’d last longer) since that would only lead to more questions and suspicions (as if some of her actions hadn’t made her suspicious already). After what felt like hours had past (though it was likely only minutes), the Rito eventually spoke.

“You’re 20?”

“20 and a half. There is a difference!” She told him.

“Ha, only by a mere 6 months!”

“Half a year might not mean much to you, but to me it means I only have half a year left before I’m legal. Then again, that hasn’t stopped me in the past.”

“You’ve had alcohol while under the age prior to now?”

“Yeah, but it was only a few instances. Even then, I’m usually with my friends.” Without thinking she took a sip from her mug, only to be surprised by the taste. “What is this, anyways? It doesn’t taste like beer.”

“That’s because it isn’t. It happens to be one of the many products the Tabantha region is well known for, aptly named Tabantha Ale.”

Oh, that explain the taste. She’d heard that ale tasted different than beer, but it was not that she had an understanding of it (though she had a hard time figuring out how to even describe the difference). She took another sip, still unable to describe the flavor.

“So, you’re going to continue drinking your ale?”

“You haven’t tried to stop me yet. I wonder why that is?”

“You said so yourself just a few moments ago: you only have half a year left before you’re legal. I see no reason to stop you by this point.”

“Wow. You’re such a responsible adult.” She laughed.

Instead of taking a small sip, Evangeline went about drinking her ale, noting a hint of something sweet to it. However, as she drank, stray thoughts started coming to the forefront of her mind. At first, she tried to ignore them, but soon enough it got to the point that she couldn’t do that with the invasion of thoughts.

A crowd of people.

Loud music.

A red solo cup in her hands filled with an unmistakable beverage.

Wait…! She recognized this setting.

She was at a party, but she hadn’t gone alone. She had gone with three other girls, one of them having been made designated driver that night. She couldn’t recall how much she had to drink, but it was enough to leave her feeling relaxed and without a care in the world.

Eventually she found herself being taken to a car with her friends, the designated driver being sober while the other two were just as drunk as she was. The car ride was noisy due to the loud chattering coming from the other two girls, all the while the one driving having to constantly tell everyone to take down the volume.

She turned to face the girl sitting beside her in the back as she started chatting with her, though she had no clue as to what she was saying. She felt confused as she noticed the girl’s face brightening up, but it wasn’t because she was smiling so much.

Wait a minute…that was light--!

CRASH!

Evangeline’s train of thought was interrupted by the sudden sound, and it wasn’t until she looked down that she realized she had dropped the wooden mug she’d been holding, leaving what was left of the Tabantha Ale to soak into the wood of the landing (which happened to be a lot).

A car crash…!

She had been in a car crash!

That explained why she had been wearing a hospital gown when she had first woken up in the Gerudo Highlands. 

But that didn’t explain how she ended up in Hyrule.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling well?” Revali suddenly asked.

She was surprised to hear the concern in Revali’s voice that it almost left her speechless. Why would he even be concerned over her? It wasn’t like he cared or anything.

Was it…?

“I…” She trailed off. What should she tell him to avoid suspicion? Already she had gotten unwanted attention by dropping her mug. “…I’m such a klutz! The mug just slipped out of my hand!”

Turning to face him, she was prepared to flash a grin at him, only to stop herself when she saw the frown that formed on his beak as he regarded her. It was quiet between them and it might as well be considered a staring contest since he seemed like he was trying to get her to talk. At first, she didn’t have a problem keeping quiet, but at the minutes passed it started to get harder (she had to resist the urge to shift from foot to foot). It got to a point where she might as well admit the problem, but before she could even open her mouth Revali let out a sigh, turning away to face the horizon in the distance.

“So it would seem.” 

She watched as he lifted the mug he held up to his face and--

Oh… 

…Apparently Rito used the waterfall method in order to drink from cups or such.

That answered that question.

Kneeling down, she picked up the mug she had dropped before sitting it down on the wooden railing. As much as she had enjoyed the Tabantha Ale, it was probably a good thing she’d spilled it even if it were by accident. Just knowing what happened before coming here left a sour impression, and she had a feeling that drinking anything alcoholic from this point forward would only make things worse.

No more alcohol.

Not until she found a way home.

And even then, she’d be more than willing to wait until she was 21.

She took a deep breath, followed by slowly releasing it to calm herself down.

“I think…I’m going to turn in for the night.” She suddenly said.

“Already?” Revali asked, turning to face her. “It’s a bit early in the night.”

“True, but I’m actually a little worn out after all of today’s excitements.”

“A fair point. I supposed I should escort you back.”

No!

She appreciated him trying to be a gentleman (gentlebird)—which she didn’t see coming—but in all honesty, she wanted to be alone.

“You don’t need to do that. I can manage.”

Once again, he regarded her for a moment before speaking.

“Are you sure?”

Why was he suddenly so concerned for her wellbeing?

It made no sense!

“Positive! It’s not like I don’t know how to get back.”

The Rito let out a sigh in resignation.

“Very well. Just as long as you don’t get lost.”

“Okay.” 

She started to walk away, but only to stop halfway across the landing to look over her shoulder at Revali, who had gone back to leaning forward against the wooden railing as he gazed out into the distance. For some reason, she felt like she needed to say something to him before she left.

“Goodnight.” She decided to say in the end.

The only acknowledgement she got from his was seeing him lift a wing and wave her off. Moments later she was making her way back to Revali’s home, ascending towards the higher levels of Rito Village. As she climbed the steps, she gripped her chest as she recalled the pain she had briefly experienced from her memories of the car crash, her hands trembling.

She had to get away.

She couldn’t stay here.

No matter how friendly the people were or how nice and peaceful the village was…she didn’t belong here.

This was not her world!

The urgency to find a way home had grown stronger now that she remembered what happened. The sooner she got home, the better.

At least she had a lead. With magic being a thing in this world, it couldn’t be much of a stretch! And if her assumption was right, it was highly likely the Great Fairy would be able to help her. Though, that begged the question of where to find the Great Fairy Fountain Revali had mentioned earlier that day. Sure, he had shown her a map, but she couldn’t understand the writing on the map, which left her at a huge disadvantage.

Before she knew it, Evangeline found herself stopping before Revali’s home, and for some unexplainable reason her heart seemed to feel heavy.

Why?

Why did she feel this way?

She had no reason to feel sad, especially when it concerned the Rito Champion himself. He was such a narcissistic and arrogant person who thought himself to be the best thing since sliced bread.

But he chose to help her when she was wandering lost in the wilderness with a sprained ankle, despite having every reason not to do so at all. And he expressed concern—

‘No!’ She scolded herself, stomping out that line of thought. ‘I can’t think that way! Not if I want to get home.’

She couldn’t form any attachments if she wanted to get home; it would only cause her to get conflicted in her resolve, which was something she couldn’t afford at this point. She’d have to carefully plan everything if she wanted to succeed.

Looking up at the sky, she couldn’t miss the sight of the giant mechanical bird that soared through the sky, circling the perimeter outside Rito Village. Now that she wasn’t freaking out, there was something majestic about it, as well as it inspired a sense of awe and trepidation at the same time.

Only more proof of how foreign this world was to her.

‘I have to go home. No matter what.’

With that in mind, Evangeline entered Revali’s home and climbed into the hammock set up for her. Sleep didn’t come as easily as she’d like, but eventually she managed to drift off by the time the sound of footsteps entered the hut.


	6. Translations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a note causes Evangeline to meet new people and learn to translate Hylian.

Curled up underneath the blanket that covered her, Evangeline was completely content to stay asleep…

...At least that’s what she had intended to do if it weren’t for the sun shining directly into her face, and covering her head with her blanket didn’t help at all!

Letting out a sigh of defeat, she decided she might as well get up and forced herself to escape the comfort of her hammock. Her bare feet soon make contact with the wooden floor of Revali’s home—which was warm due to the sunlight coming in from the open shutters—and went about slipping on leather shoes that had been provided to her. As soon as she had finished with putting on the shoes that Evangeline noticed the plate of food that had been left on a nearby table, ironically the same one that had the large map she’d been shown yesterday. Making her way over to the table, it was upon closer inspection that she noticed a folded piece of paper stuck underneath the plate, and without thinking she pulled it out and unfolded it.

However, what was written only left her feeling immense confusion.

Staring back at her were foreign symbols neatly written, and it only took her a few minutes to realize that she’d seen the same symbols from the map of Hyrule. As she continued to stare at the characters, she couldn’t help but find herself admiring the calligraphy of the penmanship; in a way the symbols reminded her a little of the characters from the Japanese language, though it was still completely different at the same time.

Regardless of how fascinated she was by the handwriting, she still didn’t know what it said, but she could only assume that Revali had left it for her to find (especially if it was stuck underneath a plate of food that had been left for her to eat). 

An idea soon popped into her heard.

It was true that she couldn’t decipher the language, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t ask someone to translate it for her.

‘Maybe the Elder could help.’ She thought.

That didn’t sound like a bad idea. She rushed out the door, but in her eagerness she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, and it wasn’t until she found herself on the ground that she realized she had run into someone.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to run into you!” She quickly said.

“No, I should apologize! I wasn’t really paying attention!” A male voice responded in turn, and soon a wing appeared in her line of vision. “Here, allow me to help you up.”

Following the wing up to the owner, her eyes caught sight of a russet colored Rito with yellow colored eyes (which she presumed was a common eye color among the Rito). She grabbed the wing offered to her and soon enough she was pulled back to her feet. It was as she glanced up at him that she noticed that she barely reached his shoulders as far as height went (then again, that seemed to be the average height of male Ritos).

“Thanks for helping me up.” She said.

“Not a problem.” He replied. His head then tilted to the side. “You’re the human, aren’t you? The others weren’t kidding when they mentioned you looking similar to a Hylian.”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t stop the slight disappointment she felt, seeing as everyone knew her as just the human. “I’m Evangeline, by the way.”

“Locke, and glad to make your acquaintance. If you don’t mind me asking, where were you off to in such a hurry?”

“I was going to go see the Elder. But now that I’m out here, I realize I don’t know where he is.”

“Looks like you could use some directions. I could show you where his home is.”

“If it’s not too much trouble for you.”

“Nonsense!” He chuckled before turning in the direction of the stairs leading upward. “This way.”

She followed after Locke, going up the steps one at a time. During the walk she made sure to take mental note of her surroundings, not so she could remember the path to Elder Chie’s place, but to map out the area in order to plan a route out of the village when the time came for her plan to be set in motion.

‘I just hope this plan will works in the end.’ She thought. ‘I can’t afford to screw this up.’

“Here we are!” Locke announced when they approached the last hut at the end of the wooden walkway. “You’ll have no trouble finding this place as long as you remember that it’s the last hut at the top.”

“Thanks for helping me out.” She said, offering the Rito a smile. “I appreciate it.”

“Well, uh…it was nothing.” His reluctance confused her, but it didn’t last long since he soon cleared his throat. “Anyways, I should get going! My father’s probably wondering what’s taking me so long to get back. I guess I’ll see you around?”

“You never know.” She shrugged.

With that Locke went off to wherever he needed to be. He seemed nice enough and his personality was a welcomed change when compared to Revali. 

‘Even so, I can’t get attached.’ She told herself.

Evangeline turned to look at the hut that belonged to Elder Chie, and looking through the open doorway and windows she could see him sitting in a chair while reading over what looked to be a book. At first she was felt hesitant to approach, but then she remembered that she needed to know what Revali’s note said. In the end, she forced herself to approach the hut and knocked on the side of the doorway, the sound causing the Elder to glance up from his books.

“Oh, it’s you!” Elder Chie exclaimed. “Come in, come in.”

Entering the hut, she noticed how the place was bigger than the other homes she had seen. She stopped before the Elder at what she believed to be an acceptable distance.

“It’s good to see you’re doing well since I last saw you, Erin.”

‘Uggghhh… Revali…’ She mentally groaned.

“My name isn’t really Erin. It’s actually Evangeline.” She corrected.

She watched as Elder Chie’s yellow eyes grew wide in surprise, and the sight was almost comical.

“It is? Then why would Master Revali refer to you by a different name?”

“I have no clue.” She shrugged. “For all I know, he probably forgot it on purpose.”

“Hmmm… Regardless of the reason, it is a beautiful name. However, I’m under the impression that this isn’t the reason why you’ve come to me.”

“You’re not wrong.” She pulled out the note she had. “I was wondering if you could tell me what this note says.”

Elder Chie took the note offered to him and she watched as his eyes roamed the page before he spoke.

“It says… ‘Unless I have anything specific for you to do, your default task is to make sure my home stays clean once a day. Any free time that remains is yours to do with as you please.’” He hummed thoughtfully before looking up at her. “I presume you’re unable to read Hylian if you came to me to translate this note.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, yeah.” She confessed, adverting her eyes in embarrassment.

A hearty laugh pierced the air, causing her to look up in surprise. Elder Chie eventually calmed down before using a feather to wipe a tear from his eye.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about! If it bothers you so much, I’d be more than willing to teach you how to read and write in Hylian for the duration of your stay.”

Evangeline considered this proposition. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn Hylian, especially if she needed to read the locations on the map Revali showed her. If anything, it would be something to get her one step closer to returning home.

“I’d like to learn, please.” She answered.

“Splendid!” The Elder smiled. “I’ll need time to prepare the learning material, so we can start lessons tomorrow during your free time.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a smile. “I better get going. I still need to clean Revali’s home, so I’ll see you next time.”

“Take care, Evangeline.”

Now that she knew what the note said (as well as knowing what she needed to do), Evangeline made her way back to Revali’s home to complete the task he had assigned to her. In all honesty, she was surprised that he was giving her such a simple task—she had expected him to give her something rigorous or over the top—but she wasn’t going to look a gifted horse in the mouth in this instance. Besides, if his note was any indication he would let her know if he wanted her to do something specific.

‘Maybe he isn’t so unreasonable.’ She thought.

As soon as she got back to Revali’s home, she was about to get to work until she remembered that she didn’t have anything to dust or sweep with, leading to her searching the place for something suitable to use. It took her awhile, but eventually she managed to find a cloth that she didn’t think Revali would mind her using before going about dusting off every surface, lifting objects in order to dust underneath and straightening up where she believed was necessary.

Satisfied with her work, Evangeline pulled out Revali’s note, coming up with the sudden idea of decoding the letters from what she learned in order to have something resembling a reference. Glancing at the table with the map, she spotted a…

…Oh, great.

An inkwell.

She groaned quietly at this.

That meant she’d had to use a quill, and there just so happened to be one next to it.

‘Why do I get the feeling this won’t end well for me?’

Evangeline sighed before heading over to the table, spreading the note on it before pulling the lid off from the inkwell and grabbing the quill. Just from examining the note she could see that Revali obviously signed at the bottom, so that was a good place as any to write down his name in English, and from there she started to write letters below the symbols. Though she could only identify from Revali’s name and was able to decode a few letters (along with accidentally causing a few small ink blots due to her inexperience), it wasn’t enough to confidently guess any of the words with her limited knowledge.

‘At least I figured out some of it, even if it’s just a few letters.’ She sighed, returning the quill to its rightful place before stepping away from the table.

Seeing as she had finished her task, she decided she might as well spend her free time exploring Rito Village in order to familiarize herself with the place. With her mind made up, she went outside Revali’s home, the wind playing with her dark hair as she walked around. Every time she passed by one of the small windmills she couldn’t help but think back on her thoughts from yesterday concerning windchimes, and as a result she started to imagine the sound associated with them.

Ah…

That set up a relaxing setting.

Though the weather could be a little warmer. That did beg the question of what time of year it was, specifically in this world. Was it the same back home or was it completely different?

Eventually Evangeline came across the landing she and Revali had been at last night and she decided to rest there for a bit (if not to get her bearings before she continued her exploration). She leaned against the railing, taking in the scenery around her, as well as noting the level below her (from what she could see). In the distance she could see a snowy mountain range, and at first she thought it was the Gerudo Highlands, but then she realized the terrain at the foot of it was covered in snow, while the mountain she had woken up on had a rocky terrain when she had climbed to the bottom (plus, the distance didn’t look right). Knowing it was a different mountain she wondered what it was called.

“Excuse me! Are you the human?”

She turned around upon hearing the feminine voice and came face to face with three female Ritos that had been standing behind her. The one in the middle had green feathers and blue eyes, while the two on the left and right were light yellow with red eyes and dark red with yellow eyes respectfully.

“Yeah, that would be me.” She replied. “What might you be?”

“My name’s Sarai.” The green Rito introduced herself.

“I’m Onra.” The yellow one said.

“Kali.” The dark red one followed suit.

“I’m Evangeline. Nice to meet you three.” She smiled. “What bring brings you here.”

“Well, we were curious, so we thought we’d come over and talk to you.” Onra answered. “It’s not every day you get to meet a human, then again that’s likely to change.”

She was aware of what Onra meant by the last thing she said, implying that her presence would eventually become familiar to the rest of the Rito. But that wouldn’t be the case once she managed to get back home to her world.

‘It wouldn’t matter if they get used to me being around.’ She told herself. ‘They’ll eventually forget about my existence once I’m gone.’

“H-hey! Are you okay?”

Evangeline blinked, feeling confused by Onra’s tone and her concerned expression.

“I’m fine. Why are you asking?”

“You made this weird expression, like you ate something you didn’t like or something.” Kali provided.

Her eyes widened at this, followed by her face turning red in embarrassment.

“Oh! Sorry about that! I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately, that’s all.”

“Well, I hope you’re able to get everything sorted out. I bet everything’s different compared to what you’re used to.”

“You’re not wrong. Things are different here, but there’s a certain charm to it.” She agreed.

“Hopefully, you enjoy your stay as well.” Sarai said. “We need to get going, but maybe we can all get together and hang out something.”

“It was nice meeting you, Evangeline!” Onra added.

With that she watched at the three female Ritos left, ascending up the stairs leading to the upper levels. As soon as they were out of view she decided to continue her exploration of Rito Village, making sure to note locations of whatever houses and shops she came across; during her exploration she encountered a strange looking stone structure that stood out compared to the rest of the village (how she had missed it the other day, she would never know), but other than being aware of its presence, there wasn’t much she could do about it so she left it alone. 

By the time she had made it to what was the entrance of the village (or the lowest level where the steps stopped at ground level) there were hints of orange bathing the horizon in the distances and the nearby shadows were gradually getting longer and longer, indicating that it was evening. Just seeing the sight was breathtaking and almost made her wish—

‘No time to think about that.’ She let out a disappointed sigh. ‘I should head back to Revali’s place.’

With her mind made up Evangeline proceeded up the steps as she made her way back to Revali’s home. The trip itself was uneventful and seemed too short for her liking since she soon found herself before the hut, though the sight that greeted her upon entering left her anxious.

Not only had Revali gotten back before her, but she now watched as he stood by the table looking over the sheet of paper he held in his wing; his yellow eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as his green eyes roamed across the page. At first she wondered what he was reading, only for the blood to drain from her face seconds later as she realized what it was.

Well, shit…

Luck wasn’t on her side since it was at that moment the Rito glanced up to see her standing by the door, though she had a feeling he’d been aware of her presence the second she’d stepped inside the hut.

What else was he capable of doing that would put her one edge?

“There you are, Erin!” He started. “I was wandering where you went off to.”

Okay, why did she have the distinct feeling he was up to something?

“I did what you wanted me to do. I just went and explored the village afterwards.” She told him.

At this he raised an eyebrow.

“And how did you know what I wanted you to do? I thought you didn’t know how to read Hylian.”

Oh, so that’s what he was up to. Did he think she was faking that part? Was this some sort of test?

“I don’t. I went to the Elder and asked him to translate your note for me.”

Revali frowned at this, and it was enough to prove her theory; he really thought she’d been faking it! For some reason she felt disappointed by his actions, but the reasons for his actions were clear enough.

He didn’t trust her.

That, or her actions and behavior yesterday were reason enough for him to believe she was suspicious.

‘Why should I care?’ She thought, suddenly feeling irked. ‘He’s been insufferable since day one. I’ll be more than glad to get away from him once I get the chance.’

“You still think I’m illiterate!” She then said, just in case her facial expressions were betraying her thoughts.

“Perish the very thought! I only made a conclusion based on earlier observations. And besides, these symbols you managed to put down on this note proves that you’re capable of writing, though not in any language I’ve every laid eyes on. Am I correct in assuming that these characters are part of the language you humans use?”

She was so tempted to say something sarcastic, but decided against it in the end. There wasn’t any point in doing so, and it seemed like Revali was being reasonable enough at the moment; she might as well enjoy it while she still could before he decided to change his mind.

“You are. Though it’s only one of the many languages used by humans, it happens to be one of the more commonly used ones.”

“And what do you call this language?” He asked, referring to her writing as he pointed to it on the note he held.

“It’s called English. Unfortunately, it’s the only language I know how to write and speak in.”

“The only one?” His head tilted to the side. “You seem to be awfully fluent in speaking Hylian, so you must excuse my skepticism.”

She shrugged at this.

“Who knows? Maybe Hylian and English are the same language when spoken, but not when written…”

She trailed off as she soon realized something. If what she just said was actually true, would the letters from the Hylian and English alphabet have the same name or meaning?

It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“How is your named spelled in Hylian?”

The Rito regarded her at that moment, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head. After what felt like hours he finally spoke.

“R. E. V. A. L. I.”

She tensed upon hearing this. 

So her theory had been right.

This…changed things. For better or worse, she couldn’t tell.

“What did you realize?” He suddenly asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Had she become that predictable in such a short time or was he just that good at reading people?

‘Both option leaves me feeling uneasy as it is.’ She thought. ‘Either way, he’s too perceptive for my liking.’

“Your name is spelled the same way in both languages. Only the characters themselves have a different appearance when written.”

“If what you say is true, then the letters you wrote…” Revali glanced down at the note he was still holding before returning his gaze to her. “Go sit down.”

Evangeline was about to ask why, but was unable to since he rushed over to his desk. Not knowing what else to do she did as she was told and sat by the firepit. Soon enough Revali came over to where she sat and deposited the items he’d been carrying in his wings in the free space in front of her. Not only was the note he’d written for her placed before her, but the inkwell and quill were among the items, as well as a few blank pages and a random book (likely meant to be used as a hard surface to write on). She thought that would be that and he’d just leave her be, but much to her surprise the Rito sat himself down beside her (thankfully there was enough space between them to put her at ease). This left her confused and she wondered what he was up to now; he spoke before she could even ask a question.

“It’s to my understanding that you were able to translate my name in your written language, along with using that as a reference to decipher some of the Hylian letters I wrote.” He explained. “I want you to translate the rest.”

‘Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Revali?’ She asked mentally, refraining from voicing that question out loud despite how tempting it was.

“But with my assistance, naturally.”

‘Never mind, he’s not an imposter.’

Sliding the book in front of her, she placed the note on top of it before carefully taking the lid off the inkwell, followed by dipping the tip of quill into the ink. She was about to bring the quill to the note, but once she glanced at what she’d been able to translate she realized she had no way of knowing what the rest of the Hylian letters were. She also realized that she’d have to rely on Revali for help, and as much as she hated the idea of having to do so she really didn’t have a choice.

“What is this first word?” She asked, using her free hand to point to the word she was referring to.

“That would be ‘unless’.” Revali provided.

Evangeline nodded before carefully writing the letters that hadn’t been identified for that word—occasionally needed to dip the tip of the quill into the inkwell every now and then--and as soon as she finished she examined both Hylian and English letters in order to compare them. It didn’t take her long to noticed that the Hylian symbols for ‘U’ and ‘S’ looked similar to their English counterparts, so she went ahead and translated those letters, as well as do the same for the letter ‘N’. Once she was done, she looked over the progress she made on the note.

UNLESS I *AVE AN***IN*  
S*E*IRI* R*R **U ** **,  
**UR *ERAUL* *AS* IS  
** *A*E SURE ** ***E  
S*A*S *LEAN *N*E A *A*.

AN* RREE *I*E **A*  
RE*AINS IS **URS ** **  
EI** AS **U *LEASE.

REVALI

Her eyebrows furrowed as she hummed thoughtfully. From what she could see so far, she could make a guess as to what some of the other letters might be, and looking at the third word she had a feeling that the missing letter was ‘H’ and proceeded to write that down. There was also the second to last word in the note that looked like a ‘P’ so she went ahead and inserted ‘P’ there and did the same to decoding that symbol as well.

“What about this word?” She pointed to the fourth word on the first line.

“‘Anything’.”

Filling in the blanks, the translation started to get a bit clearer now, and the more she figured out, the more some Hylian letters seemed to become obvious.

“This symbol is ‘K’.”

“Correct.” 

“So what’s this word here?”

“That’s ‘home’.”

She paused upon hearing this.

Home…

Just thinking about it caused her to feel sadness.

‘Focus!’ She told herself before continuing her work.

UNLESS I HAVE ANYTHING  
SPECIRIC ROR YOU TO GO,  
YOUR GERAULT TASK IS  
TO MAKE SURE MY HOME  
STAYS CLEAN ONCE A GAY.

ANY RREE TIME THAT  
REMAINS IS YOURS TO GO  
EITH AS YOU PLEASE.

REVALI

“‘Unless I have anything spe…’? What’s this supposed to be?”

“‘Specific’.”

“How can this word be ‘specific’ if there’s an ‘R’ where the ‘F’ should be?”

“That’s due to ‘F’ and ‘R’ sharing the same Hylian symbol.” Revali explained. “The same can be said for ‘D’ and ‘G’, ‘E’ and ‘W’, ‘J’ and ‘T’, and lastly ‘O’ and ‘Z’.”

“Hmm… No wonder why some of the words I’ve translated so far look weird. ‘Rree’ is supposed to be ‘free’. And if that’s the case, ‘gerault’ should be ‘default’ and ‘eith’ should be ‘with’.”

She made the necessary changes, and by that point there was only one letter left to decipher, but from what she’d managed to translate so far it was simple.

“‘Unless I have anything specific for you to do, your default task is to make sure my home stays clean once a day. Any free time that remains is yours to do with as you please.’” She read out loud before handing the note over to Revali.

“And with that, you have managed to translate my note.” He said after reading it over. “It’s interesting to see how your written language compares to Hylian. And yet despite being foreign, these letters appear to be crude in nature.”

Evangeline couldn’t help but laugh at this due to finding his observation to be so absurd! Ironically enough, she found herself feeling slightly better compared to how she’d felt earlier that day.

“Don’t look at me! I not the one who invented English.” She commented. “Speaking about language, the Elder offered to teach me how to read and write Hylian.”

“Did he?” Revali slid the book in front of her over to where he was before grabbing a sheet of paper. “And did you take him up on his offer?”

“I did.” She watched as the Rito started writing down Hylian letters, and it was interesting to see how the feathers of his left wing were able to grip the quill as he wrote as if they were actually fingers. “What are you doing, anyways?”

“I’m merely writing down the Hylian alphabet for your convenience. From there I’ll leave it up to you to translate the letters.”

It was quiet from that point save for the sound of the quill scratching against the paper as Revali wrote. During this time Evangeline wondered why the Rito was going through all the trouble of helping her translate Hylian—especially when she’d informed him that Elder Chie would be teaching her how to do so—and what he would gain from helping her. It was somewhat frustrating; right when she thought she’d had him figured out, she’d be dealt such a curveball that left her confused. 

Why did it bother her so much? 

And why did she even care?

‘Would you stop?! You’re not supposed to get attached, remember?’ She mentally yelled at herself.

The way Revali was acting definitely wasn’t helping matters, either.

‘SCREW REVALI! He can’t even bother to remember my own name!’

Thankfully, that issue won’t last long once she managed to get back home. As much as she didn’t like the idea, she would tolerate it for now.

“Here!”

Suddenly the book was pushed in front of her, this time with the paper of the Hylian letters he’d been writing down sitting on top of it.

“Translate as many letters as you can using the note you just deciphered. Refer to me concerning any letters you’re unable to figure out.” Revali explained as he handed her the quill he’d been using. “Now then…while you’re busy taking care of that, I’ll proceed on cooking dinner.”

‘Stop being so freaking civil! You’re not making things any easier for me!’

She threw a glare in his direction, but the Rito didn’t seem to noticed a thing as he went about gathering ingredients. Letting out a sigh, she turned back to the paper before her with the note she’d translated placed on the left of the book. Dipping the tip of the quill into the inkwell she started working on translating the Hylian letters, being careful not to make any mistakes and constantly checking the note just to be sure. So far, she was only able to translate 21 letters (18 if you counted the symbols for ‘D/G’, ‘E/W’, and ‘F/R’), leaving her with only 3 Hylian symbols (4 English letters) left over; something she noticed was how the Hylian letters were arranged in the order of the English alphabet, but despite this she left the symbols she didn’t know blank for now.

“Okay, so I’m missing ‘B’, ‘J’, ‘Q’, ‘X’, and ‘Z’.” She glanced up at Revali, who was casually stirring the food that was in the cooking pot with a wooden spoon. “Any help?”

The Rito placed the wooden spoon off to the side before turning in her direction. She handed him the paper when he held out a wing in her direction and watched as he looked over her work, all the while humming thoughtfully as he did so. Eventually he placed the paper back on top of the book before pointing at the symbol after ‘A’.

“This letter here is ‘B’.” He told her, and she went about writing the English equivalent in before he pointed to the symbol for ‘O’. “This symbol serves as both ‘O’ and ‘Z’. ‘T’ and ‘J’ also shares the same symbol.” He then pointed to the last two unidentified letters. “These are ‘Q’ and ‘X’ respectfully.”

She nodded before filling in the blanks, and soon enough the translation of the Hylian alphabet was completed. Revali went back to tending to the food he was cooking and she took this time to look over the paper, making an attempt to memorize the details. But the longer she looked it over, the more a specific thought kept spinning around in her head.

“Why did you want me to do this?” She asked.

“I assure you, it’s more for your benefit than mine.” Revali seemed satisfied with the food he made, piling some on two separate plates before handing her one. “The Elder may be starting you on your first lesson tomorrow, but what happens when you suddenly forget what you’ve learned? You can’t always go to him when you need something translated, hence why I had you work on a reference sheet.”

“…Well, when you put like, who am I to complain?” She spooned some of the food and took a bite out of it. “Though I don’t see what you’d get out of it.”

“Peace of mind? Preventing secondhand embarrassment?” He shrugged. “Would it really matter at this point?”

“No, I guess not.”

Time passed and eventually Evangeline found herself laying in her hammock wide awake. A lot of things happened today and Revali’s behavior left her wondering what he was up to. Did this have anything to do with how she was yesterday?

‘It’s likely.’ She thought. ‘Why does it bother me so much?’

Letting out a soft sigh, she closed her eyes in attempt to get some sleep, all the while repeating three words to herself as she drifted off.

Don’t get attached.


	7. The Great Fairy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Evangeline leaves Rito Village to see the Great Fairy.

A few days had passed since Evangeline managed to translate the Hylian alphabet (with Revali’s help, which was a detail he made sure she didn’t forget). During that time, she would go to Elder Chie for the Hylian lessons he offered her—after completing any tasks Revali wanted her to do—starting her off with practicing how to draw the symbols and get comfortable with doing so (as well as being able to identify the meaning of each letter) before teaching her how to write. At her request the Elder taught her a bit of geography, asking questions about locations and being careful about how she asked about the Great Fairy Fountain; she learned that there were four Great Fairies scattered across Hyrule and coincidentally there happened to be one nearby located on Piper Ridge, which was far south of Rito Village. 

This was good news since it meant she was one step closer to going home.

Another thing she had managed to do was memorize the layout of Rito Village, and like many times in her life she was grateful to have photographic memory, though it was more significant now more than ever. There was also the matter of memorizing Revali’s daily schedule that she had to carefully observe, and from what she could tell so far it would be difficult to sneak away during his absence, and the window of opportunity was too short to take advantage of in her free time.

There’s always a downside to everything, it seemed…

If she wanted her plan to succeed, she’d have to be careful around Revali; one wrong move and it would fall to pieces.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The sound of movement roused Evangeline from her sleep and cracking her eyes open she saw that it was still dark inside the hut, save for the lone candle that sat on the table as its soft light illuminated a small portion of the room. It took a while for her eyes to adjust, but when they did she noticed the silhouette of a person standing hunched over the table with their back facing her. At first she was worried that it was an intruder, but then she remembered that she wasn’t the only person that resided in the hut.

“…Revali?” She called out, sleep still evident in her voice. The silhouette stopped what they were doing upon hearing her speak, and when they turned around she could see that it was the Rito in question. “…What are you doing?”

She knew he had a tendency of waking up at crack of dawn, but—and she could be wrong about this—she had a feeling that it was even earlier than that.

“Packing.” Was the simple answer he gave her.

“…For what?” She sat up slightly in her hammock. “Are you…going somewhere?”

At this he let out a somewhat exasperated sigh, and she could see him lifting a wing up to his face—likely his way of performing a facepalm.

“Erin, I’m aware that you’re half asleep at the moment, but you just answered your own question.” Revali lowered the wing from his face. “Regardless of this fact, yes, I am going somewhere.”

“Why are you going?”

“Something has come up and I need to leave soon if I want to arrive on time. As Champion I have duties to attend--!” He stopped himself before dismissively waving a wing. “Never mind, I’ll just write a note giving you a brief explanation, seeing as you won’t remember this in the morning! Just…go back to sleep.”

Not knowing what else to do Evangeline weakly nodded her head before laying back down in her hammock, and eventually she fell asleep.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Evangeline woke up with a start as she sat up in her hammock, her hazel eyes darting around the room in search of…

…In search of what?

A frown formed on her face, brow furrowing as she tried to recall something. A dream, maybe? Whatever she was trying to recall, she was having difficulty doing so since the memory seemed to be out of reach.

What was her dream about, anyway?

Unsure of what else to do she climbed out of her hammock and proceeded to put her shoes on before getting started on cleaning Revali’s home to the best of her ability. It was when she approached the table that she noticed the note sitting on top of it, clearly longer than the last one he left her a few days ago. Carefully, her eyes scanned over the symbols, using what she learned from her lessons with Elder Chie while occasionally peeking at the Hylian-English reference sheet to translate Revali’s note. Thankfully, it didn’t take her long to do so and she proceeded to read the note in its entirety, and she was surprised to find that last night hadn’t been a dream.

By the time you read this, I will be long gone to my destination. 

Due to my duties as a Champion, I will be away for a few days  
(this might vary depending on how long it takes). In my absence,  
you will attend to your usual task of keeping my home clean.  
I have also left you enough food to cook yourself some meals.

Revali

PS: Make sure you don’t get yourself into any trouble.  
The last thing I need to hear is that you’ve caused problems.

She couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes at the last part. As if she were some troublemaker causing problems for the great and mighty Revali!

Regardless of this fact, this was the best news she had gotten so far! With Revali being away she finally had the opportunity to get away from Rito Village and search for the Great Fairy Fountain!

She could finally go home!

Without thinking twice, Evangeline quickly finished cleaning the place before she started packing what she thought she needed, packing the food left for her, a blanket (she wasn’t taking any chances with the weather), and a water canteen she’d need to fill up before she left. She was about to rush out the door, only to stop herself.

She had no way of knowing where she’d need to go once she left Rito Village.

Going over to the table, she grabbed the rolled-up map (knowing that it would be the most helpful tool she’d need) before leaving.

‘Just a little longer.’ She told herself. ‘I’ll be home soon.’

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

She ungracefully plopped herself down on the ground, letting out a tired sigh before holding her hands close to the fire she had just made in order to warm them up. After a few moments she searched through the food she’d brought with her, picking out some sort of fish before sticking its skewered form in the ground so it could cook.

All the traveling she had done that day hadn’t been easy; at first it seemed like it would be so simple, but that soon proved not to be the case. 

She had been able to fill her water skin at one of the ponds located on the small islands that connected Rito Village to the mainland via a series of bridges before making a brief stop at the nearby building that had a large horse looking structure on top of it (she soon learned that it was Rito Stable). While there, she had taken the time to ask the people (she assumed they were Hylian, seeing that their ears were different from her own, being pointed and reminding her of elves; she was glad that her hair had been covering her ears at the time) for directions to the Great Fairy Fountain. Thankfully, they were nice enough to point her in the right direction and one of them even went as far as to help her map out a route she could take to get there.

Things began to gradually get difficult from that point.

From the stable she had to hike up a hill before traveling through a canyon of sorts, only to eventually come across what the map referred to as Kolami Bridge.

Whenever she heard the word ‘bridge’, she imagined a wide and sturdy mass that allowed someone to cross over to the other side safely.

However, what she came across was NOT what she had in mind. The bridge itself was six logs wide in width as it had been constructed from multiple logs in order to reach the other side. Though the multiple logs were held together by rope, there were still gaps in between the individual logs, and the only thing that supported the structure had was at both ends of the bridge. It was so narrow that the thought of even walking on it left her anxious enough to call it quits, and that wasn’t even going into detail about said bridge’s condition.

Whose idea was it to even make such a thing and then declare it to be a bridge in the first place?!

Despite how anxious she’d felt, she forced herself to cross the bridge (after wasting 15 minutes trying to convince herself to do so); right after crossing Kolami Bridge she took a break to calm her nerves a bit before she resumed traveling. She eventually decided to call it a day and set up camp even though it had been early to do so. It had been a good call since she spent the better part of her time trying to find enough sticks to make a fire—as well as making said fire that took even longer due to her inexperience.

“I swear, Hollywood makes it look so easy!” She had muttered to herself as she struggled.

By the time she had managed to make a fire, night had already fallen and she had long since wrapped a blanket around her shoulders in order to keep warm; nothing could’ve prepared her for how cold (and windy) the nights were out in the wild and she had almost wished she had stayed in Rito Village.

But that wasn’t an option.

She had to find the Great Fairy Fountain and return home.

What if her plan didn’t work—

“It has to work! It will work!” She interrupted her train of thought. “I don’t—”

She paused before sniffing the air a few times.

…Was something burning?

Her eyes widened as she realized that the fish she had set up to cook was on fire!

“No, no, no, no!” She chanted, trying not to panic as she scrambled to retrieve the fish.

Without thinking she quickly snatched it from the fire, only to let out a yelp of pain as she burned her hand in the process. After many attempts she managed to put out the flames (at the expense of what was left of her drinking water), and she left out a groan as she realized the fish she’d saved had been so burnt that it resembled blacken charcoal.

Was it even edible?

“…It…can’t be that bad. Maybe it looks worse than it really is.” She tried to convince herself before hesitantly taking a small bite.

Only to immediately spit it out in disgust. And now she was wishing she hadn’t wasted her water.

“Oh god!” She sputtered. “…Nope, it tastes as bad as it looks!”

Seeing as the fish was beyond salvageable she tossed it into the fire (at least it would serve as fuel) before letting out a pitiful moan as her stomach started to ache from lack of sustenance. The majority of the food she had packed needed to be cooked if she wanted to eat it, but there were a few things that she could eat raw.

Like the apples she found.

She had no clue how far away she was from her destination or how long it would take for her to get there, but she had to be careful about making her food last until she arrived.

Should she eat an apple, knowing that it wouldn’t be enough to fill her stomach but be enough to keep away hunger pain?

She let out a defeated sigh before pulling out an apple and took a bite out of it. I had been a hard decision to make, but it was better than the alternative. After finishing the fruit, she pulled out the map she had brought with her, carefully looking over the route she had taken so far.

She could clearly make out Rito Village and the stable she had stopped at—oh! There was the bridge she had crossed a few hours ago! Looking up from the map she observed her surroundings, noting some pine trees nearby and the cliff wall where she had set up camp before returning her gaze to the map. If her surroundings were anything to go by, her campsite was located close to…‘Stfock Lake’? ‘Strock Lake’? Whatever it was called, she was near some lake or something.

So she knew where she was (likely). If she remembered what one of the people at the stable told her, she should be halfway to her destination! And if that was the case, she should arrive at the Great Fairy Fountain sometime tomorrow.

“I’m almost there.” She rolled up the map and stored it away. “I should try getting some sleep.”

With this in mind, Evangeline hugged her legs close to her chest (being mindful of her burnt hand as she tried to shield it from the wind) before resting her head on her knees and closing her eyes.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sadly, sleep didn’t come easily, and even when Evangeline managed to nod off her rest would abruptly be interrupted by different sounds that she couldn’t identify; hearing the sound of a wolf howling in the distance had been the last straw and she outright gave up on any form of sleep. In the end, dark circles had formed underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep as she watched the sky brighten with the sunrise. Sure, the sunrise had been nice and all, but it was overshadowed by the stinging of her burnt hand and the protests of her empty stomach. The fire he had made had long since died during the night, so she couldn’t cook anything; that left her to reach inside the satchel for another apple to eat. Finishing her sad excuse for breakfast, she glanced at the map before gathering her things and continuing her journey.

Trekking down the hill, she noticed a cluster of large boulders in the middle of the path, so she thought nothing of it as she walked around it.

Only to freeze when she heard a rumbling, along with the tremor she felt as the sound of stone moving reached her ears. Hesitantly, she turned around to see what it was.

That soon proved to be one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made in her 20 and a half years of living as a giant stone monster formed from the very boulders she had walked by!

She may or may not have gotten scared.

And her voice may or may not have gone up a few octaves higher as she ran away screaming.

…

…Yeah, definitely not one of her finer moments.

She didn’t know how long she had been running, but she managed to get away without anything bad happening to her. At least she had gotten some cardio just from that incident.

Grrrrr…

Her face paled at that sound and she turned to see a few wolves, all of them snarling at her.

“You have GOT to be kidding me!” She muttered to herself.

Running was not a good idea in this situation and she had nothing to defend herself with, but unless she did something she’d end up being their next meal—

That’s it! Meal!

But that would mean sacrificing all her food just to get away. And if she remembered correctly, that was something that you weren’t supposed to do if you encountered wolves.

‘It’s either that or I die, and then I won’t be able to go home if I’m dead!’

Seeing no other choice, she made the tough decision of sacrificing all her food and dumped the contents of the satchel onto the grown (but not before snatching two apples). Though she didn’t think the plan would work, the wolves seemed to take the bait and attack the food that was left behind, tearing through the paper that the meat was wrapped up in effortlessly. While the wolves were distracted she slowly backed away, making sure that they stayed in her line of vision as she did so. Once she was far enough and they were out of sight she started running to get some distance from the wildlife just to be sure, only to stop once she thought she was safe.

Evangeline allowed herself a break and sat on the ground, wheezing as she tried to take in as much oxygen as her burning lungs would allow. It was some time before her breathing and pounding heart returned to a normal rate, and once that happened she allowed herself another apple to satisfy her growling stomach. Once she was finished, she pulled out the map as she tried to determine her current location.

“Let’s see… I camped here.” She said to herself. 

Glancing up to look at her surroundings. From what she could see, it looked like she was in between two mountains or something, and there were hints of some ruins—

Wait, ruins?

Sure enough there was hints of a ruined stone structure, though all that was left of it was a corner section and two pillars covered in foliage.

“Didn’t the old man tell me something about this?” Her gaze fell on the map as her brows furrowed. “‘If you see some ruins, take a left around it and follow the path until you find an opening in the ridge to your left.’ Is this what he meant?” 

Examining the map once more, she made sure to memorize the rest of the route before putting it away and standing up. She was so close to her destination that she started getting excited. Following the directions the old man had given her and hiking up a hill, she soon found an opening in what must’ve been Piper Ridge and went through. Reaching the other side, she was surprised to come across a giant flower that sat in a puddle of water, all while being surrounded by small white flowers and—to her delight—pink fairies flying around minding their own business.

She couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face as she took in everything, all the while walking further in to get a better look at the giant flower. She noticed how there was gold structure which brought to mind thoughts of a throne of sorts.

“So this is the Great Fairy Fountain.” She breathed out, amazed by the sight before her. “I finally found it.”

A small yelp escaped her lips as she suddenly felt something nudge against her arm and her gaze shot in the direction it was coming from, only to be surprised to see a pink fairy being responsible for the action. She hadn’t expected any of the fairies get close to her (if anything she believed they would’ve kept their distance from her), but here was one of them trying to get her attention for some reason.

“Oh! You startled me!” She laughed. “Is there something you wanted?”

The fairy merely floated down to her ankle—specially her right ankle—and she suddenly felt confused as she felt something touch it.

“Hey, what are you doing down there? Is there something about my ankle that--!”

She trailed off as she realized something. That was the ankle she had sprained not that long ago, which had also been healed by the elixir Revali had her drink, as well as a pink fairy being around.

“It can’t be. You’re the same fairy that healed me?”

At this the pink fairy shot up in front of her face and bounced around excitedly as if to confirm her suspicions, causing her eyes to widen at this.

“No way! It’s actually you!”

The fairy then flew down to her hand, specifically the one she’d burnt, and she winced when she felt tiny hands touch it. 

“What are you doing?”

Suddenly she felt warmth engulf her hand and before she knew it the burns on her hand were gone.

“Did you…just heal my hand?” She asked.

In response the pink fairy seemed to nod.

“Thanks. I didn’t realize how reckless I was being until I burnt it. At least I won’t have to worry about explaining it.” She glanced over to the giant flower and pointed towards it. “I’m guessing that’s where the Great Fairy is?”

Another nod.

“Okay. I need to talk to her. Thanks again for healing my hand.”

Evangeline walked up the colorful looking mushrooms that seemed to act as steps, only to stand on top of a large one that worked as a platform. In the middle of the giant flower was what looked like a pond, and though she couldn’t see the bottom she could only assume that it was deep.

Was the Great Fairy in the water or something?

How was she supposed to get her to show up?

“Uh…hi? Great Fairy? I’ve…come to talk to you about something…and I think you can help me…?” She started hesitantly.

Nothing.

“…Maybe I need to offer something? But all I have is an apple…”

Suddenly a hand shot out of the water to grab the edge of the pond and Evangeline shielded her face as water splashed everywhere. When she lowered her arms, she was met with the sight of a large woman and she was unsure of what kind of impression she wanted to form in her mind.

She wouldn’t deny that the woman was pretty in her own way, having dark skin and a curvy body (from what she could see since only her upper half was visible). The makeup she wore on her face helped compliment her facial structure and the beauty mark located on the lower left of her left eye did nothing to detract from the appearance). The outfit was an almost floral feel to it and the jewelry wasn’t over the top; there was an almost fairy wing looking accessory placed in her pink hair (behind her left pointed ear), completing the look.

Yet despite the woman’s appearance, there was something…eerily disturbing about her that gave Evangeline mixed feelings (hence why she wasn’t sure what she thought about her).

“Whoa…” She breathed out, tilting her head back in order to meet the woman’s eyes. “You’re huge!”

Her eyes widened when she realized what she just blurted out. She needed to fix this, fast!

“I-I mean you’re a giant! As in you’re bigger than what normal people are!”

She cringed at this as she became painfully aware of her words, and the large woman had a neutral expression as she gazed down at her.

She made things worse, didn’t she?

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you or anything!”

Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the woman to yell at her, scold her, anything along those lines! She deserved it seeing how she’d spoke without thinking.

What she didn’t expect was the amused laughter that reached her ears.

…What?

She hesitantly opened her eyes and looked up to see the woman was indeed laughing, and the sound of it put her at ease. Soon enough she managed to calm down from her laughter before she spoke.

“I’m aware you meant no offense, young one. As you might know, I am the Great Fairy Kaysa.” The large woman said before leaning forward to get a better look at her. “Your presence here is very peculiar. It has been some time since I’ve last seen humans in Hyrule. What might you’re name be?”

“My name is Evangeline, ma’am.” She was quick to add the last bit out of respect. “I am a human, but I’m not from here.”

“‘Not from here’?” The Great Fairy repeated. “If you’re not from Hyrule, then perhaps you come from somewhere beyond this land’s borders.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She shook her head. “When I say ‘I’m not from here,’ I mean that I’m not from this world.”

At this Kaysa’s smile fell as her expression became neutral.

“Go on.”

Evangeline took a deep breath to calm her nerves, letting it out before continuing.

“I don’t know how long ago it was, but when I first woke up in Hyrule I found myself on the Gerudo Highlands.” She explained. “I don’t know how I even managed to get myself down from there before freezing to death, but I did, and it wasn’t until a few days ago that I learned I was in a different world.”

“Mmmm… So you’ve come to my spring seeking my help in returning you back to your world.”

“Yes! I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.”

She didn’t expect the sad expression that appeared on the Great Fairy’s face.

“Evangeline… You have no idea how much I want to help you, and it breaks my heart knowing that I’m incapable of granting your wish.”

Her eyes widened at this. She went over Kaysa’s words in her head, trying desperately to find something she missed, but no matter how many times she repeated them the words didn’t seem to register.

“You’re joking, right?” She started laughing, expecting Kaysa to join her. But that wasn’t the case as she was the only one laughing, and once she realized this her laughter died. “…You mean you can’t send me home? There has to be another way! This world has technology, surely someone’s figured something out!”

“I’m sorry, but there is no other way for you to return to your world.” The Great Fairy said. “The ancient technology of the Sheikah race was buried over 10,000 years ago and has only recently been unearthed by order of the King of Hyrule. If there is any knowledge concerning your wish, it has been lost to time. Nothing short of divine intervention can return you home, given your circumstances.”

The sad look on the Great Fairy’s face persisted, and it only dawned on her why it bothered her.

It wasn’t just sadness.

It was pity.

Evangeline’s hands curled into fists, not caring at all for the pain caused by her nails digging into her palms.

She didn’t want pity!

She wanted to go home!

Home to her friends and family.

Home to what was familiar.

And Hyrule was a far cry from home!

She turned her back to Kaysa, unable to stand the look of pity she’d been giving her and with all intentions of leaving. But where would she go?

‘There’s no point in going back to Rito Village.’ She thought bitterly. ‘I don’t belong anywhere.’

“I know you’re upset, but before you go, there is something I want to give you.”

She turned around upon hearing Kaysa speak, and before she could even ask anything the Great Fairy held out a hand to her as if offering something. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the delicate looking flower that caught her attention. The flower itself was exotic, its appearance similar to a lily while at the same time it didn’t look like a lily. An aspect of the flower that caught her attention was how the petals faded from a light blue to white.

“This is a Silent Princess, a rare flower that thrives in the wild. There are statues in the image of the Goddess Hylia scattered around Hyrule, one of which is located within Rito Village for instance. Offer this flower to the Goddess Statue and pray.”

“Why should I do this? What’s the point?”

“I’m sorry that I’m unable to send you back home, but I feel this is the next best thing I can do to help. This world is full of dangers you’ve yet to realize, and it would be a shame for you to fall victim to them. Take care.”

Before she could say anything, the Great Fairy disappeared by sinking back into the water of the fountain, leaving no hint that she was there aside from the flower she now held in her hand. She had no clue how long she stood there staring at the water’s surface—for all she knew, it could’ve been hours—but eventually her feet started moving as if they had a mind of their own as they took her away from the Great Fairy Fountain. 

Her mind seemed to be a chaotic whirlwind of thoughts, and she was struggling to keep her emotions under control during this state.

This was a nightmare.

It had to be!

But no matter how many times she pinched herself, she found that she was wide awake.

This was reality.

Soon enough anger followed as she realized the situation she was in. She thought she’d be able to go home with the help of the Great Fairy or the technology this world possessed, but both her leads had been nothing more than dead ends.

Dead ends!

She was stuck in Hyrule!

Trapped…

She wanted nothing more than to scream right now!

What was she supposed to do now?!

Trapped…!

She didn’t belong here!

Trapped!

“Would you stop your incessant screaming? I’m surprised you haven’t attracted any unwanted attention with how loud you’re being!”

Evangeline hadn’t realized she’d been yelling until she stopped, only to realize that her lungs were protesting from the lack of oxygen. As soon as she caught her breath her hazel gaze lifted, only to meet a sight that she hadn’t wanted to see.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” She snapped.

“Funny you should mention that since I could ask you the same thing.” Revali countered, crossing his wings in front of his chest. “I manage to finish my duties as Champion and return home early, only to discover that you’ve been missing since yesterday. Not only did the Elder inform me that you’ve missed your Hylian lessons yesterday, but mentioned how you’ve been expressing interest in the Great Fairies lately.”

She mentality cursed at herself. She thought she’d been careful with her planning, but apparently she hadn’t been careful enough since Elder Chie was able to tell Revali how she questioned him about the Great Fairies. Then again, she hadn’t expected the Rito to come back as early as he did, either.

“Which brings me to back to the issue at hand. Why did you leave Rito Village, knowing that you’re unfamiliar with the area despite taking the map I had in my home? I mean, what could you possibly gain from coming all the way out here just to see the Great Fairy of this region?”

“Before I decide to answer your question, how about you answer mine?” She presented, trying to keep herself from lashing out at the Rito. “What would you do if you found yourself in a world completely different from your own and nothing there was familiar?”

“Simple, I’d try to find a way back.” He answered nonchalantly.

“Great! Now what if you were to suddenly discover that there was no way to return to Hyrule? What then?”

“I fail to see the point of this scenario.”

She found herself laughing at this, though it was humorless in nature.

“Of course you do!” She scoffed. “Why am I not surprised? The Great Revali knows all, and yet he doesn’t understand the question presented to him!”

“Enough of these riddles! Speak plainly!”

“‘Speak plainly’? ‘Speak plainly’?! Fine! I’ll speak plainly so that your massive ego can comprehend! That’s scenario I just described to you? I happen to be living every second of it, and it’s been that way ever since I woke up on the Gerudo Highlands!”

“So you went to the Great Fairy for help.”

“No! I went to her so I could get my two front teeth!” Was her sarcastic remark. “What do you think, birdbrain?”

Revali frowned at this.

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm, and your story is extremely farfetched.”

She threw her hands in the air out of exasperation.

“Why am I not surprised? You don’t believe me! It’s not like I had an actual life before being stranded in this godforsaken world.” 

“Assuming there’s truth to your story, I’m sure there are other ways for you to return home.”

“Funny you mention that, because I just saw the Great Fairy and she told me that there is no other way. I’m as good as stuck.” She turned her back on the Rito, fully intending on leaving before she lost her temper. “Good thing we’ve cleared that up now rather than later. Good talk.”

She started down the path before her, but she didn’t get far due to the sudden grip on her shoulder.

“Wait, Erin—”

For a moment she saw red, and the next thing she knew she found Revali doubled over as he held a wing to the left side of his face, and there was the addition of her right fist was sore.

Connecting the dots, she realized that she had punched the Rito Champion.

A normal person would likely feel guilty in such an instance, but strangely enough she didn’t sorry for her actions.

“Damn… That’s quite the right hook…” Revali hissed out in pain, all the while rubbing the spot she had hit him.

“I can’t believe this! At first I thought you were deliberately referring to me by another name to get on my nerves, but now I realize that you actually forgot it! Is my existence so trivial that you’d couldn’t even bother to remember my own name?” As she spoke, her voice kept going up in volume until she was yelling. “Why should I even bother caring what you think when you already have your mind made up on the issue?! I done with dealing with all the bullshit being thrown my way!”

Not bothering to wait for a response, she once again made to leave Revali behind, this time at a run in order to put as much distance between them as she could. She had no idea where she was going, nor did she care where she ended up, just as long as she could get away from the Rito.

But even then, where would she go?

Once more her arm was grabbed, and already knowing who it was she threw a punch at him again. However, Revali must’ve expected her to do this again since he managed to evade her fist, giving him enough time to grab her wrist before she could make another attempt.

“Let go of me!” She demanded, struggling to get away.

“No.” He firmly told her.

Despite his response she continued to struggle. She managed to get an arm free before she started pounding her fist on his chest, ignoring the pain that coursed through her hand as she did so.

“I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t ask to be brought to Hyrule! I didn’t ask to be separated from my friends and family! I had a life before all this happened! I hate you! I hate you!”

Revali was silent as she continued her assault, taking her anger out on him. Her vision eventually started to blur, and it wasn’t until she felt something wet streaking down her face that she realized she was crying.

Soon enough her struggling came to a halt—along with her anger—as reality seemed to hit her like a ton of bricks. She bowed her head, her hair falling into her face in an attempt to hide it.

She would never see her friends and family again.

She would never get to lead the life she wanted.

She would never see home.

She had nothing but her name.

Her identity.

“…Evangeline. My name is Evangeline.” She managed to tell herself through sobs. “I’m 20 and a half years old. I’m a human from Earth.”

She kept repeating these words to herself, trying to remind herself of who she was so she wouldn’t forget. She didn’t understand why she was doing this, only that there was a desperate need to do so while she still could.

But the longer she did it, the worse her state of mind seemed to get.

At that point she didn’t care if she looked like an utter mess.

“I want to go home… I want to go home…”

But she would never be able to return.


	8. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being stuck in a different world can be a hard pill to shallow. Adaption is the only option.

She didn’t know how many days had passed since she was brought back to Rito Village, but she was beyond caring about anything seeing as she had stopped paying attention long ago. Laying on the wooden floor beside her hammock, she hadn’t moved away from that spot since her return. Not even the dryness of her mouth or the pain of her growling stomach could motivate her to get up.

After having everything she knew and the life she once led taken away from her, Evangeline didn’t care anymore.

She just didn’t care anymore.

All she wanted was to be left alone, and maybe waste away quietly if possible.

Of course, that could never be the case, given that a certain someone chose to forgo his training just so he could be around. She ignored his presence, not bothering to pay any attention to his words if and whenever he spoke (which didn’t happen often, surprisingly). He’d tried getting her to eat once, only to leave the plate on the floor within reach when he realized she wasn’t going to move, but even then, the food he made would go untouched when he came to retrieve it. One time she thought she heard him humming a tune on a particularly rainy day, though she simply chalked it off as just being her imagination since she never heard it again; even then it had been a temporary comfort since it gave her something to focus on.

One day she heard Revali moving around the hut, only for the sound of more than one set of talons clicking against the wooden floor to reach her ears as they joined his before hearing him talk to someone. It wasn’t until she listened in that she heard female voices talking to him and it took her a little longer than usual to realize that she recognized the voices. Her suspicions were confirmed when she felt a wing being gently placed on her shoulder, and seeing the green feathers confirmed that it belonged to Sarai.

That meant Onra and Kali were here as well.

She didn’t want them here and she certainly didn’t want their pity either.

Why couldn’t anyone just leave her alone?

Was it just too much to ask?

There was nothing she could do about it, so she chose to close her eyes and rest. For that was all she could do at that point.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Evangeline awoke with a start when something shook her shoulder, but before she could even respond something was pressed to her lips and her head was tilted backwards. The first drop that landed on her tongue served as a catalyst and she could no longer ignore her thirst as she desperately drank.

Wait…was she awake…?

…Or was she asleep?

No…she couldn’t be awake.

She had to be experiencing a really vivid dream if she were this desperate for water. She had been refusing any food or water for so long that she was dreaming this whole thing up. Even so, she would enjoy this dream while she could until she woke up, all the while guzzling down water as if it were going out of style.

The water was suddenly taken away, causing her to let out a quiet sound of protest.

Why was it taken away?

Give it back!

She was so thirsty!

…

Slow down.

You’re drinking too fast.

The water was brought back, this time she was only allowed a few small sips at a time, almost teasingly much to her growing frustration. But if it meant she’d be given water, then she would begrudgingly go along with it.

Blink.

Something was being wrapped around her neck, which she discovered to be some sort of thick cloth when the pads of her fingers grazed the material. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was as she started tugging on it and she noticed that the cloth was thick but soft, almost as if it were made of wool or something similar to it.

Leave it on.

Her brows furrowed as the corners of her mouth turned downwards into a frown.

Why did she need to keep it on?

It’s going to get cold.

Blink.

Her body shivered profusely as she felt the wind whip around her, all the while noticing that she had her arms wrapped around something warm. She tightened her hold, craving the warmth beneath her as she practically buried her face into the surface. This was one weird vivid dream she was having. She shouldn’t be feeling temperature, but then again that hasn’t stopped her dreams from being realistic.

…

Evangeline’s eyes slowly fluttered open as her mind gradually became aware of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the sound of a crackling fire and the warmth it provided, followed by the quietly moaning wind as small hints of cold air drifting in, though the heavy blanket draped over her body shielded her from the brunt of it.

She shivered as she curled into a ball.

When did Rito Village become so cold?

Using her arms to push herself up from the floor, she let her eyes wonder around the room as she realized she didn’t know where she was. Getting a better look around she saw that the layout of the room was the normal Rito style with hammocks hung high in the air. She noted how she’d been laying on a rug (along with a pillow her head had been resting on) close to the fire and cooking pot situated in the center, along with there being two exits: one on the opposite side of the room with two torches on either side of the threshold while she could see hints of a ladder leading down (from what she could tell); the other exit was to her right, leading outside to a platform of sorts. But the one thing she hadn’t expected was the snow falling outside as the wind carried the flake through the air. Due to how the weather made everything look hazy outside she couldn’t make out any specific details on the horizon aside from the mountains or cliffs (for a lack of a better term) seemed to surround the area, almost isolating the location from the rest of the world if not for the only opening that allowed a path leading away from the hut.

The smell of food cooking drifted through the air caused Evangeline’s stomach to growl and churn painfully in hunger, reminding her of how she’d been starving herself for days. She knew the smell was coming from the cooking pot and had to force herself to keep her gaze away from it in fear of making things worse for herself and her stomach. She didn’t enjoy hunger pain, but she didn’t want to eat anything.

She shivered with chattering teeth as she wrapped the blanket around herself tightly. Why was she even here in this place instead of Rito Village?

She didn’t want to be here!

Standing up, she suddenly felt light-headed as her vision seemed to swim. She placed a hand to her head in an attempt to ease the sensation, but it didn’t seem to help much. Eventually the dizziness went away and she took a few calming breaths before opening her eyes.

That’s what she got for going so long without eating anything…

Maybe she could leave on her own. But then again, even if she left where would she go in her weakened state? She didn’t even know where she was and that didn’t help her cause. Looking around the room she eventually found a chest of drawers that had been placed against the “wall” behind her and she didn’t hesitate when it came to searching through each drawer, only for confusion to set in when she came across bottles filled with what appeared to be a softly glowing reddish-orange liquid.

Picking up one of the bottles she found that the glass was warm to the touch, as if the bottle and its contents had been heated up recently. All the bottles had labels tied around the neck, and lifting the one tied around the bottle she held she discovered Hylian words written; mentally translating the words in her head, she learned that it read ‘Spicy Elixir’.

‘ _Spicy Elixir?_ ’ She thought. ‘ _Why would an elixir need to be spicy?_ ’

If it were anything like the elixir Revali had her take, then there was a reason for all these to have been made. Maybe its purpose was to provide warmth to whoever decided to drink it (if the warmth it gave off was any indication). Usually she’d be all for doing whatever to keep herself warm, but recalling the incident that occurred from drinking the elixir that fixed her ankle she was very reluctant to try. Last time she’d been in a lot of pain due to it mending the damage done to her ankle, so if that had happed from that specific elixir, what effect would the one in her hands inflict on her? Would it cause her to have a fever if she drank it or worse? She had been informed that elixir didn’t have such a strong effect on others, so what if--!

Her line of thought stopped abruptly as an idea came to her.

What if she were to drink only _half_ of the elixir? If she did that it wouldn’t harm her as much, right? The worse that could possibly happen would be her body getting too warm than what was intended.

‘ _At this point,_ _I don’t really care what happens to me…_ ’ Was the dark thought that drifted through her mind.

After struggling a bit with uncorking the bottle Evangeline brought it to her lips to drink the elixir, only to pull it back when she tasted the concoction. Even with the noticeable spiciness to it (hence the name) it did little to mask the other aspect of the flavor that was gag inducing. She mentally counted, allowing herself some time to breath before she went back to drinking, this time trying her best to swallow down the substance. It wasn’t long until she pulled the bottle away once she saw she got halfway through the elixir, and with the task done she closed the bottle up with the cork and placed the bottle on top surface of the drawers. She then allowed herself to sit back down on the floor as she anxiously prepared herself for the worse; while she’d been expecting something excruciating to occur, that wasn’t the case as a warming sensation seemed to spread throughout her body at a steady pace until she found herself practically immune to the chilly weather.

Her idea had worked!

It had _actually_ worked!

Now that she no longer needed it Evangeline shed the blanket she had wrapped herself in, and she was about to start folding it when she caught sight of the scarf that was wrapped around her neck. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

She didn’t remember putting on a scarf.

There was no denying that beige colored scarf provided warmth, with the ends of the fringes having been tipped red. Letting her hands feel around the back, she noticed that the rest of the length fell down her back until the ends stopped somewhere above her knees. Curiosity got the best of her as she grabbed one of the ends so she could see what it looked like and found that the end was cut at an angle, the end colored with a red and yellow pattern while above that was what she assumed was half of a symbol (and the other half of it was likely on the other end of the scarf behind her back).

_Ba-ba-booooom!_

Evangeline’s head shot in the direction of the loud sound, realizing it was coming in the direction of the exit that led to the platform outside. Curiosity got the best of her and soon enough she found herself wandering outside; the sight of the dispersing smoke coming off the rocky walls caught her attention, but she didn’t see what could’ve caused the event to occur when she allowed her eyes to search the area.

The only place she hadn’t searched was below.

Hesitantly, she approached the end of the platform and peered over the edge, only to stumble back in surprise by the powerful updraft that suddenly burst out of nowhere. Even with her hair whipping around and getting in her face, nothing could distract her from the form that shot up into the air. At first she couldn’t make out who or what it was, but as soon as she saw wings spreading out she realized it could only be a certain Rito.

Evangeline watched in awe as he flew around, his movements swift yet graceful as he shot arrows from his bow—3 at a time—which exploded on impact with their target (or _targets_ in this case). All of this seemed to take place within 30 seconds or less by the time he was finished, but that was likely an exaggeration on her part. One thing was clear, though, and it was that Revali hadn’t joked about being the best archer; she couldn’t imagine anyone being able to outdo the Rito after witnessing such an impressive display of skill.

‘ _Robin Hood eat your heart out._ ’ She couldn’t help but think.

Maybe the same could be applied to Peter Jackson’s OPed version of Legolas? Giving it some thought she decided to drop that topic knowing that she’d mentally argue with herself for hours if she allowed it to continue, so it was best to leave the conclusion undecided for now.

Her thoughts came to a sudden halt when she heard something land on the platform, and looking up she was surprised to find Revali standing before her. She expected him to scold her for coming outside without anything to keep her warm (though she didn’t need it), maybe even yell at her or something, but to her surprise (and confusion) he kept silent as he regarded her. With every second that passed she found herself growing anxious and deciding whether to say something to break the silence.

But what could she even say in a situation like this given recent events?

‘ _Hey, Revali!_ _Sorry for being such an anti-social recluse for the last X amount of days._ _Turns out I can’t return to Earth ever again!_ ’

She mentally flinched at just how cringy that thought sounded. There was no way saying something like that would go over so well.

“Come.”

Apparently, she didn’t need to decide as the Rito moved past her, clearly wanting her to follow him back inside the hut. By the time she entered, Revali was setting his bow beside him after seating himself by the fire, and not knowing what else to do she decided to do the same, albeit with a good amount of distance between them. There was a certain tension in the air as neither one knew what to do or say, but eventually the Rito chose to get up and move around, though at this point Evangeline wasn’t really paying attention.

Why did he bring her here?

Why was he still bothering to keep her around?

Her presence was hardly significant in his life, yet when she left he’d gone after her.

Why?!

Nothing made sense!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bowl being shoved in front of her, thought she probably stared at it for too long if the sound of Revali clearing his throat was any indication; knowing what he wanted her to do she took the bowl from him. The bowl contained a simple broth soup, but the sight and smell of it was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.

“You’ve gone days without food.” Revali said, causing Evangeline to glance over at him. “Eat or I will resort to spoon-feeding you.”

That was enough to get her to eat, though she took it slow as she carefully sipped at the warm liquid with her spoon. The flavor wasn’t anything special but that was likely the point seeing as the broth wasn’t upsetting her stomach. But why go through all the trouble to make this for her? She only managed to eat half of the broth before setting the bowl aside and with nothing else to do she turned her gaze to the fire in front of her. The sound of Revali getting up and moving around reached her ears but what she didn’t expect was for something to be draped over her shoulders, which turned out to be the blanket she had been using earlier.

“I’m not cold.” She said, shrugging off the blanket.

“We’re located at the foot of the Hebra Mountains, which happens to have snow all year-round. There’s also the fact that you are not dressed appropriately for this kind of weather. Excuse my skepticism, but I don’t believe your claim of _not_ being cold.” Revali stated matter-of-factly.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not cold because I drank something.”

“‘Drank something’? What could you have possibly drank to prevent you from being…”

Revali suddenly trailed off and she looked up in time to see the Rito go over to the drawer where she found the Spicy Elixirs, and sure enough he picked up the half empty bottle sitting on top of said drawer. She couldn’t help but find it strange how small the bottle looked as he held it in his large wing of a 'hand', but that line of thought was short-lived when he abruptly whipped around to face her, brows furrowed in anger as he stormed over to her.

“Why did you do it? Why did you drink one of the elixirs when you know that it could backfire on you?” Evangeline was taken by surprise when Revali suddenly grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet, keeping her in place if she tried to escape (though it was likely that he did so after having learned what happened last time). “Are you even aware of the risks you were taking? You could’ve given yourself a fever if things turned out badly, or worse you could’ve—!” He clicked his beak in a clear sign of irritation. “Why are Humans—why are YOU so reckless?!”

She had never seen Revali so angry before and as much as she hated to admit it, she was a little scared. However, that fear didn’t paralyze her for long as she frowned.

“Why should I care what happens to me? What would I be risking if I have nothing to lose?” She suddenly asked. “In this world I’m nobody. All I have is my name and the clothes on my back, and even then, those very clothes were never originally mine! If something were to happen to me, I would not be missed. Maybe a couple people might be sad, but eventually they’d move on and forget about me.”

It was apparent that Revali hadn’t expected her to refute him if his surprised expression wasn’t any indication. He seemed to struggle for finding the right words to say, but right when she was about to open her mouth to continue, he somehow managed to compose himself and beat her to it.

“Do you truly value your life so little? Do your circumstances affect you so much that you would willingly throw caution to the wind?” The Rito asked, his voice calm as he spoke. “So what if you’re stuck in another world? Not many people are given the chance of having a clean slate in life. You can be anyone in this world, but you must be the one to take the first step.”

Evangeline averted her gaze as she suddenly found the floor more interesting. She knew Revali had a point, but it didn’t make things any easier for her. How was she supposed to start a new life in this world if she didn’t know what to do? This world…it was too foreign for her to grasp. There were too many things she was unfamiliar with, along with too many unknown dangers that seemed to be implied by the few people she’d encountered.

So this was what it was like to fear the unknown.

Not having anything familiar to fall back on was terrifying.

“I’m scared.” She admitted weakly. “I don’t know what’ll happen or what I should do.”

“Then don’t think of the fear. Instead, think of all the possibilities being presented to you.

“But if I’m staying in Hyrule wouldn’t I be considered an illegal alien? Don’t I need to apply for citizenship or a green card with the powers that be?” It was then she realized what she said and her eyes widened. “Wait…I wouldn’t be able to apply for those if I don’t even have my birth certificate of social security number?” She then groaned, bowing her head at the idea of her situation “Oh…shit! I’m so screwed…”

Evangeline expected Revali to say something to this, but strangely enough he was silent. When she lifted her head to look at him, she saw that he had a blank look on his face.

What was with that--?

“Are you finished?” He suddenly asked.

She blinked, too confused to know how to respond to such a question. How could he be so nonchalant when she was clearly worrying about something as serious as citizenship? Didn’t he realize that she could be in serious trouble if she were caught?

“W-what do you mean by that? Don’t I need to apply for citizenship to live in Hyrule?”

“‘Applying for citizenship’?” The Rito tilted his head to the side. “What nonsense are you going on about?”

Evangeline sighed, knowing she would have to explain things.

“Where I’m from—in _my_ world—the laws of the country I lived in state people from other countries that want to come in and reside there permanently are required to fill out forms or tests in order to register for citizenship. After some time, the person will get something called a green card, but even then, that person is considered a non-citizen and must live in the country for a least five year before they can officially become a permanent resident of said country. At least that’s to my understanding. I could be wrong so don’t quote me on it.”

Revali just stared at her, seeming to register everything she told him before he spoke.

“So let me get this straight: you’re telling me that you have to register for citizenship with the powers that be…as if you were signing up for some competition?” Revali asked.

“Eh…not exactly, but I guess that could be a more simplistic way of considering it.” She answered, albeit unsure about her words.

“Either way, the idea sounds tedious and time-consuming! Has it always been that way where you’re from?”

“Not always. I don’t know the exact date, but if I remember my history correctly, those kinds of laws were passed about 200 or so years ago, give or take. I guess the process itself is somewhat recent invention of the government. From what little I’ve seen of Hyrule, this world seems to be similar to the medieval period of Earth’s history, though with very noticeable differences; even so, Earth never had such a process during that time period.”

“Well, I assure you, that Hyrule doesn’t have such a process, so you don’t have to worry about ‘registering for citizenship’.”

It was at that time that Evangeline noticed Revali still had a hold of her arms, and that awareness brought a sense of awkwardness to the situation.

“Erm…Revali? Could you…?”

At this she nodded to one of the Rito’s arms. Revali seemed confused at first, but once he realized what she was getting at, he was quick to loosen his grip and step away from her. The awkwardness still lingered between the two as they both tried to figure out what to do next.

“So…” The Rito started in an attempt to change the subject. “The ‘medieval’ period… How long ago was that in ‘Earth’s’ history?”

Seeing what he was trying to do, she was more than willing to answer.

“The medieval period, which was also called the Middle Ages, lasted from the 5th to the 15th century in Earth’s history, so about 10 centuries long. Back on Earth, at least when I left, we were in the 21st century.”

“Is that common knowledge in your world?”

“Kinda? I guess it depends on the curriculum at certain schools. I was going to a university before coming here, so I ended up learning that as part of my education.”

“University?!” Revali exclaimed in surprise. “You were receiving a higher education?”

Oh, that’s right.

Education was something only the rich could afford during the middle ages, and with higher education being a step up from that, it was understandable that Revali would react the way he did. Explaining this was going to be tricky.

“I’m not rich or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. The 21st century is a lot different from the Middle Ages, with education being affordable to most people while a higher education cost a lot more.” She explained. “Sometimes students in college or university will get jobs to help pay their tuition, and there are other options that help reduce to costs for the student, but some options like student loans require that the money be paid back later down the line.”

“That would explain a number of things. You certainly don’t _act_ like a woman of nobility.”

Evangeline couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the Rito’s words! She didn’t know why she found it so hilarious, but the act itself helped to improve her mood.

“You have no idea how much I needed that. Especially with how stressful things have been lately.” She admitted once she managed to calm down. “I…want to apologize for my behavior. I’m not proud of it, and my circumstances are no excuse to act that way.”

Revali was silent as he regarded her, likely thinking of a response to her words. She waited patient, and sure enough he finally spoke.

“I accept your apology, Evangeline.”

This took her by surprise. Not because he apologized, but because she hadn’t expected the Rito to use her actual name when he’d been referring to her as ‘Erin’ for so long. She was tempted to bring it up but decided against it when he averted his gaze and stared off into the distance.

“In hindsight I’m aware that your actions weren’t without reason. I admit I was skeptical of your otherworldly claims, but after everything that’s transpired up until now, I’m inclined to believe your story. Even if the place you’re from has an absurd way of managing things.” Revali chuckled at his last statement, and she couldn’t help but agree with him. He then brought his gaze back to her before continuing. “I may not entirely understand things from your perspective, and I may not be capable of returning you home, but what I can do is make your stay in this world a little more bearable.”

Evangeline didn’t know how it happened, but like a ton of bricks falling on her she became cold as all warmth in her body suddenly vanished, leaving her with chattering teeth and frozen limbs. Before she could manage to utter a word, she found herself bundled up in the same blanket from earlier and placed in front of the fire.

“…H-how d-did y-you k-know?” She asked, still shivering.

“That elixir was only meant to last about an hour, and even then, it’s simple to tell when the effects are wearing off on a Hylian. Apparently, Humans are no different. It’s also not the most pleasant thing to experience firsthand.” He added the last statement as if it were an afterthought.

“C-can’t I just…d-drink the other half of the Spicy Elixir?”

“I rather not take the chance. You already took a big risk in drinking half of it, and though nothing severe happened, I don’t thing it’s wise to consume the rest of it so soon. At least we know to give you half an elixir if something happens.”

Perhaps Revali had a point, and as much as she didn’t like it, she had to agree. Still didn’t change the fact that it was freaking cold!

“W-why does it have to be so cold?” She asked rhetorically.

“If you think this is cold, wait until you’ve experienced the winter season in the Tabantha region!” He stated.

This certainly caught her attention.

“Y-you mean it gets colder than this back in Rito Village during the winter? Don’t you guys need to fly south during that time of year? Aren’t _you_ even cold right now?”

At this the Rito barked out a laugh as if he’d just been told the funniest joke in the world, and to her ears it was one of the most interesting sounds she had ever heard. In a strange way, it reminded her of a specific scene from a specific Final Fantasy game, albeit lacking the awkwardness from said scene. Despite this, there was something about Revali’s laugh that had a certain…charm to it, for lack of better words. Eventually he managed to calm down before he responded.

“The Rito aren’t burdened with the limitations of the average avian. Unlike birds, we are capable of withstanding the harsh temperatures of winter.”

“And what season are we currently in?”

“We are just now entering the autumn season.”

…

…Well, shit.


End file.
